Li Lu

Veratrum nigrum, the black false hellebore, is a stout perennial herb of the Melanthiaceae family growing 60 to 100 cm tall from a short erect rhizome bearing many thick fleshy roots. The basal leaves are large, broadly elliptic, 20 to 35 cm long, with strongly parallel longitudinal veins, prominently plicate, and clasping at the base; cauline leaves become progressively smaller upward. The inflorescence is a large terminal panicle, 20 to 60 cm long, of numerous small flowers with six dark purplish-black to maroon tepals about 6 to 8 mm long, the lateral branches densely flowered. The fruit is a three-lobed septicidal capsule containing winged seeds. It is native to grasslands and open woodlands across temperate Eurasia. All parts contain extremely toxic steroidal alkaloids including jervine and protoveratrines.