Veratrum californicum (California corn lily, white or California false hellebore) is an extremely poisonous plant[1] native to western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, as far north as Washington and as far south as Durango; depending on latitude, it grows from near sea level to as high as 11,000 feet.

[2][3] It grows 1 to 2 meters tall, with an erect, unbranched, heavily leafy stem resembling a cornstalk.

[4] It prefers quite moist soil, and can cover large areas in dense stands near streams or in wet meadows.

Many inch-wide flowers cluster along the often-branched top of the stout stem; they have 6 white tepals, a green center, 6 stamens, and a 3-branched pistil (see image below).

[6] It is a source of jervine, muldamine and cyclopamine, teratogens which can cause prolonged gestation associated with birth defects[7] such as holoprosencephaly and cyclopia in animals such as sheep,[1] horses, and other mammals that graze upon it.