The false black helleborine can be seen in the Woodland Garden.
A member of the Melanthiaceae, which also includes Paris and Trillium, the genus Veratrum contains 25 species from the temperate northern hemisphere and northern Mexico, where they grow in damp meadows and woodland. All species are rhizomatous and have alternate leaves, the lower of which are broad and pleated. Six-petalled flowers are carried in erect terminal racemes. V. nigrum is one of the more widely grown species reaching 1.2m in height and bearing deep reddish-purple flowers. A native of woodland of temperate Asia and Europe it requires partial shade and deep, moist, well-drained soil.