VERATRUM  . The

Greek physicians were acquainted with a poisonous herb which they called white hellebore, and which has been supposed to represent the Veratrum album of modem botanists . Be this as it may, in modern times the name has been applied to a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceae . Veratrum is a tall-growing herb, having a fibrous root-stock, an erect stem, with numerous broad, plicated leaves placed alternately, and terminal, much-branched clusters of greenish or purplish polygamous flowers . Each perfect flower consists of six regular petals, as many stamens, whose anthers open outwardly, and a three-celled superior ovary which ripens into a three-celled, many-seeded capsule . The genus comprises about nine species, natives of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, generally growing in pastures or woods . V. album and the American species V. viride are commonly grown in gardens as ornamental perennials, but their poisonous qualities should be kept in mind, particularly as they bear a considerable resemblance in foliage to the harmless Gentiana lutea . Both contain the potent alkaloid veratrine .