White false hellebore
Veratrum album L.
Also known as: White hellebore, European white hellebore
Family: Melanthiaceae
0.5 to 1.5 m tall
Damp meadows and mountain pastures (Alps, Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges), 700 to 2000 m
Flowering: June – August
Full sun
Part shade
Very hardy, to -20°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Its alternate, longitudinally pleated leaves are the best clue for not confusing it with great yellow gentian, which has opposite leaves — a real, documented and sometimes fatal confusion among gentian root gatherers. A dangerous and well-documented confusion, especially outside flowering when only the leaves are visible: white false hellebore has alternate, longitudinally pleated leaves, whereas great yellow gentian has opposite leaves. In flower, the false hellebore has small whitish to greenish flowers in long panicles, whereas the gentian has large bright yellow star-shaped flowers in whorls. These are good clues, but none is a guarantee on its own: if in the slightest doubt about a root or a non-flowering plant, never eat it.
🍃 Leaves
Large, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, longitudinally pleated (very prominent parallel veins), sheathing at the base
🌸 Flowers
White to yellowish-green, small, arranged in long terminal panicles of 30 to 60 cm
🍎 Fruits
Three-chambered capsule containing winged seeds
🪵 Bark
Perennial herbaceous plant with a sturdy, upright, unbranched stem
🗺️ Distribution
Mountains of Europe (Alps, Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges); damp meadows and high-altitude pastures.
🐝 Value for pollinators
Flowers visited by a few insects, but a plant to be ruled out from any gathering because of its extreme toxicity.
✂️ Horticultural uses
No common horticultural use; a plant to watch out for in alpine pastures where it grows in the same place as great yellow gentian, harvested for its root.
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Extremely toxic in all parts, especially the root. Contains powerful steroidal alkaloids (protoveratrine, jervine, cevadine, veratridine) causing violent vomiting and serious cardiac and neurological disorders; ingestion can be fatal. Never eat a root or non-flowering plant resembling great yellow gentian without absolute certainty of identification.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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