Veratrum fimbriatum
Encyclopedia
Veratrum fimbriatum is an uncommon species of false hellebore
, a type of plant closely related to the lily
. Its common names are fringed false hellebore and fringed corn lily. It is endemic to California
where it is a rare resident of the northern coastal scrub
plant communities of Mendocino
and Sonoma Counties
. This flowering plant is a stout, hollow-stemmed perennial growing from a thick rhizome
. The erect flowering plant bears several large, flat, green leaves near the base of the green stem. The large panicle
inflorescence is packed with many distinctive, lacy-fringed flowers each up to a centimeter wide. The flower bud is club-shaped before it opens into a bloom of six frilly tepal
s, each of which bears two bright green or gold glands. The ovary
and sepal
s extend straight outward as one thick stalk. The fruit is an oval-shaped capsule just under a centimeter long containing the seeds.
Veratrum
Veratrum is a genus of coarse, highly poisonous perennial herbs of the Melanthiaceae family. In English they are known as the False hellebores or corn lilies. Members of Veratrum are known both in western herbalism and traditional Chinese medicine as toxic herbs to be used with great caution...
, a type of plant closely related to the lily
Liliaceae
The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
. Its common names are fringed false hellebore and fringed corn lily. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where it is a rare resident of the northern coastal scrub
Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the...
plant communities of Mendocino
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...
and Sonoma Counties
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
. This flowering plant is a stout, hollow-stemmed perennial growing from a thick rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
. The erect flowering plant bears several large, flat, green leaves near the base of the green stem. The large panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
inflorescence is packed with many distinctive, lacy-fringed flowers each up to a centimeter wide. The flower bud is club-shaped before it opens into a bloom of six frilly tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s, each of which bears two bright green or gold glands. The ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
and sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s extend straight outward as one thick stalk. The fruit is an oval-shaped capsule just under a centimeter long containing the seeds.