Veratrum is the generic name of 45 species of plant, for example,Veratrum viride (American green hellebore; false hellebore; Indian poke), andVeratrum album the white hellebore of Europe where it grows on alpine meadows. The name hellebore is misleading because the genusHelleborus, as for example the Christmas rose H niger, the black hellebore, is in the family Ranunculaceae. The genus veratrum is in the lily family (Liliaceae) and the species are mostly found in North America. For centuries it had been well known as a poisonous plant producing very unpleasant symptoms, especially purging, vomiting, and fainting, while sometimes severe prostration and death resulted from eating the rhizome. In 1819, William Brande of London wrote “Although it has been prescribed in some cases of mania and of epilepsy modern practitioners reject it.” Likewise, in the United States it was said in 1840 that “Veratrum viride has seen its day, that its glory has departed”..