Index / Search / Veratrum californicum

§1 Plant

Veratrum californicum Durand

vernacular California false hellebore — species · Liliaceae


USDA
VECA2
GBIF
2742108
Rank
species
California false hellebore (Veratrum californicum)
Platephotograph · Dee Warenycia source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Liliaceae Juss.
Genus
Veratrum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 152 counties across 11 states/territories
Legend Native · 152 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
High
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
16–30 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7.5
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
6 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Severe
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
365,000
Propagation
seed, bulb
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 152 counties across 11 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 5 N
California view state ↗ 31 N
Colorado view state ↗ 1 N
Idaho view state ↗ 17 N
Montana view state ↗ 7 N
Nevada view state ↗ 10 N
New Mexico view state ↗ 10 N
Oregon view state ↗ 30 N
Utah view state ↗ 17 N
Washington view state ↗ 22 N
Wyoming view state ↗ 2 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/VECA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2742108 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T16:37:38Z