Green False Hellebore

Yesterday I was digging holes in preparation for planting a half-dozen small (1-3 ft tall) white spruce and balsam fir trees on the northern side of our Gaspe home landscape. The hope is that in time they will get big enough to  provide a screen to obscure the view and dampen the sound of the adjoining highway (#132) and train. Glancing downslope, just beyond our property line, I was surprised to see a patch of green false hellebore (Veratrum viride), a plant which I first saw, and immediately liked, while hiking in Lassen National Park, California, during my college years in the early 1970s. This tall (up to 6 ft) herbaceous perennial has a leafy stem that superficially resembles corn, but which is highly toxic if ingested. Interestingly, Green False Hellebore occurs in the mountains of both western and eastern North America, including the southern Appalachians where it can be found in mountain meadows, bogs, and boulder fields. Here on the Gaspe Peninsula, I've seen it growing mainly on moist open sites in the boreal forest where white spruce and balsam fir are dominants.

Green False Hellebore