Veratrum californicum (California corn lily, white or California false hellebore) is an extremely poisonous plant[1] native to western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, as far north as Washington and as far south as Durango; depending on latitude, it grows from near sea level to as high as 11,000 feet.[2][3] It grows 1 to 2 meters tall, with an erect, unbranched, heavily leafy stem resembling a cornstalk.[4] It prefers quite moist soil, and can cover large areas in dense stands near streams or in wet meadows. Many inch-wide flowers cluster along the often-branched top of the stout stem; they have 6 white tepals, a green center, 6 stamens, and a 3-branched pistil (see image below). The buds are tight green spheres. The heavily veined, bright green leaves can be more than a foot long.[3]
| Veratrum californicum | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Melanthiaceae |
| Genus: | Veratrum |
| Species: | V. californicum
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| Binomial name | |
| Veratrum californicum | |
Veratrum californicum displays mast seeding; populations bloom and seed little in most years, but in occasional years bloom and seed heavily in synchrony.[5] The species usually blooms during midsummer from July to August.[6]
- Varieties[2]
- Veratrum californicum var. californicum – from Washington to Durango
- Veratrum californicum var. caudatum (A.Heller) C.L.Hitchc. – Idaho, Washington, Oregon, N California
Teratogenic effects edit
It is a source of jervine, muldamine and cyclopamine, teratogens which can cause prolonged gestation associated with birth defects[7] such as holoprosencephaly and cyclopia in animals such as sheep,[1] horses, and other mammals that graze upon it. These substances inhibit the hedgehog signaling pathway.[8]
Gallery edit
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Swath of corn lilies in meadow -
Leaves on a young plant -
Closeup of flowers
References edit
- ^ a b Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 551. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
- ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ a b Blackwell, Laird R. (1998). Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 1-55105-226-1.
- ^ Niehaus, Theodore F.; Ripper, Charles L.; Savage, Virginia (1984). A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers. Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-395-36640-2.
- ^ Inouye, David W.; Wielgolaski, Frans E. (2003). "High Altitude Climates". In Schwarz, Mark D. (ed.). Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 195–214. ISBN 1-4020-1580-1. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
- ^ Southwest, The American. "California Corn Lily, Veratrum Californicum". www.americansouthwest.net. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
- ^ Van Kampen & Ellis. "Prolonged Gestation in Ewes Ingesting Veratrum californicum: Morphological Changes and Steroid Biosynthesis in the Endocrine Organs of Cyclopic Lambs".
- ^ Chen, J; Taipale, J; Cooper, M. (2002). "Inhibition of Hedgehog Signaling by direct binding of Cyclopamine to Smoothened". Genes Dev. 16 (21): 2743–2748. doi:10.1101/gad.1025302. PMC 187469. PMID 12414725.
External links edit
- Jepson Manual Treatment: var. californicum
- Flora of North America
- Washington Burke Museum
- Photo gallery
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