Photo of apprentice Jil Wickander with freshly harvested root.
After working on a regular basis at the From The Forest Studio, Apprentices reach a level of competence where they develop their own offerings. These medicinal plants and products are harvested with respect for the plants and their sustainability. All items offered by the Apprentices are endorsed by From The Forest.
2 lb. fresh Veratrum californicum Root. Common names include California Corn Lily, False Hellebore & Green False Hellebore. Available April, May & June; September, October & November.
Veratrum californicum root is toxic and must be handled with care. Rubber gloves and a face mask are advised.
This robust perennial must be used with extreme caution, if used at all. Deaths have resulted from its use. False Hellebore is a robust perennial, which rises from, a short, stout rhizome. The thick non-branched stems are leafy and hairy. The large, prominently ribbed (pleated) leaves are oblong to elliptic, with pointed tips and clasping bases. Star-shaped, yellow-green flowers with dark green centers hang in long thin, drooping tassels at the top of the stem. The entire plant has a musky odor. False Hellebore is widespread and most common at sub-alpine elevations in wet or moist areas. The plant is used commercially, in powdered form, as an insecticide.
Cautions: False Hellebore, official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, is an acrid, narcotic poison, and has emetic, diaphoretic, and sedative properties. Poisoning symptoms include burning sensations in the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, blurred vision, hallucinations, and general paralysis. It may cause birth defects if consumed by pregnant females. The occasional cases of human poisoning have been attributed to misuse of medicinal preparations.
Constituents: 1-alpha-hydroxy-aplha-methybutyric-acid (rhizome), 1-aplha-methybutyric-acid (rhizome), acetic-acid (rhizome), cevadine (root), cevagenine (plant), cyclopamine (root), deacetylneoprotoveratrine (root), deacetylprotoveratrine (rhizome), epsilon-jervine (root), germbudine (root), germerine (root), germidine (root), germibudine (root), germine (root), germitrine (root), isogermidine (root), jervine (plant), neogermbudine (root), neigermidine (rhizome), neogeritrine (root), protoveratridine (root), protoveratrine-a (root), protoveratrine-b (root), pseudogervine (rhizome), rubijervine (root), veratetrine (root), veratralbine rhizome), veratramine (root), veratridine (root), veratrine (root), veratrosine (root), veratroylzygadenine (root).
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