Veratrum fimbriatum |
Veratrum album |
|
---|---|---|
fringe cornlily, fringe false-hellebore |
white false hellebore |
|
Stems | 1–2 m, densely tomentose distally. |
|
Leaves | elliptic-lanceolate, reduced distally, 20–50 × 10–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. |
|
Inflorescences | paniculate, with spreading to ascending branches, 30–50 cm, densely tomentose; bracts ovate to ovate-lanceolate, shorter than flowers. |
|
Capsules | oblong-ovoid, 8–10 mm, glabrous. |
|
Seeds | ± globose, wingless, 5–7 mm. |
|
Tepals | white, rhomboid-ovate to ovate, not clawed, 6–9 mm, margins ± deeply and irregularly fimbriate; glands 2, basal, ± mid tepal, yellow, elliptic; ovary glabrous; pedicel 6–12 mm. |
|
2n | = 32. |
|
Veratrum fimbriatum |
Veratrum album |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–early fall. | |
Habitat | Wet meadows in coastal scrub | |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA
|
nw Alaska; Eurasia |
Discussion | This showy Veratrum species differs from others in its fragrant flowers with deeply fringed tepals, wingless seeds, and auxiliary bulbs in the lower leaf sheaths, and is restricted as a paleo-endemic to a 96-km coastal stretch of Sonoma and Mendocino counties (C. A. Taylor 1956, 1956b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). This is the only Veratrum species to occur in Europe, Asia, and North America, and it is probably more widespread in northwestern Alaska than reported. Veratrum album is highly variable in size, flower color, pedicel length, and hairiness, and it has an extensive synonymy in Eurasia. Within the species at large, a polyploid series that includes 4x, 9x, 10x, and 12x accompanies the complex variability among constituent populations (M. N. Tamura 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 74. | FNA vol. 26, p. 76. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Veratrum | Liliaceae > Veratrum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 391. (1868) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1044. (1753) |
Web links |