- Veratrum album
Taxobox
name = White Hellebore
image_width = 180px
image_caption =
regnum =Plant ae
divisio =Magnoliophyta
classis =Liliopsida
ordo =Liliales
familia =Melanthiaceae
genus = "Veratrum "
species = "V. album"
binomial = "Veratrum album"
binomial_authority = L."Veratrum album", commonly known as the
False Helleborine (also known as White Hellebore, European White Hellebore, White Veratrum;syn. "Veratrum lobelianum" Bernh. [http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Veratrum+album "Veratrum album"] atPlants For A Future ] ), is amedicinal plant [ [http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/felter/veratrum-albu.html Felter, Harvey Wickes. (1922) "The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics."] ] [ [http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/veratrum-albu.html Felter, Harvey Wickes; Lloyd, John Uri. (1898) "King's American Dispensatory."] ] of theLiliaceae (lily family) orMelanthiaceae which is native toEurope .Plant description
The plant is a perennial
herb with a stout verticalrhizome covered with remnants of old leaf sheaths. The stems are stout, simple, 50 to 175cm tall. They have been mistaken foryellow gentian , "Gentiana lutea", which is used in beverages, resulting in poisoning. [PMID 15773425]Uses
The root is very poisonous, with a paralyzing effect on the nervous system. In two cases of fatal poisoning from eating the seeds, the toxins
veratridine andcevadine were present in the blood at 0.17–0.40 nanograms/milliliter and 0.32–0.48 nanograms/milliliter, respectively. In 1983 sneezing powders produced from the herb inWest Germany were reported to have caused severe intoxications inScandinavia . [PMID 6887310]History
In antiquity, an effective drug based on white hellebore and a sesamoid (probably "
Reseda alba ") was elaborated by the physicians of Antikyra, a city ofPhokis inGreece . [See the vast collection of ancient sources in Hahnemann, S., "Disertatio de helleborismo veterum" (Leipzig 1812)]References
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