A bevy of black beauties

Melanthium (Veratrum) woodii

Whenever a new species blooms in one's garden it is always a red-letter day...but a new genus qualifies as a black-letter day for me. Although Melanthium has been lumped into Veratrum by most workers, the Flora of North America still recognizes it. This is apparently the rarest of the four species in the genus: I would like to grow all four. Looked up close, it's delightfully sculptural and lurid, don't you think?

Melanthium (Veratrum) woodii

Found primarily in the Ozarks, it does occur in the Appalachians as well--although considered rare and sparse flowering. So I consider myself doubly lucky...now if it will only set some fat seedpods! By the way, I obtained this from Odyssey Perennials in 2018: so it bloomed in six years from planting--pretty fast in my book.

Melanthium (Veratrum) woodii

This is to show that this is not a plant for landscape impact. It's virtually invisible a few feet away. The foliage does look a lot like Veratrum, I aver....and it does have more than a passing resemblance to two black flowered veratrums that are blooming at the same time elsewhere in my garden. Coincidence?  By the way, notice I planted it cheek-by-jowl next to Gentiana lutea--much to my annoyance now....

Veratrum formosanum

I should bite the bullet and divide this: I've has several clumps for MANY years, originally purchased from Beaver Creek Nursery in British Columbia (which we all much regret its closing). Easily 15 years old.

Veratrum formosanum

The flowering is dense enough it's starting to bake a show! Albeit a rather glum and dark little show.

It never ceases to amaze me that a plant from Taiwan can be so tough and hardy in Denver!

Veratrum nigrum

And then there is the ultimate black flower: I have seen this wild in Eurasia. I have two clumps that usually bloom simultaneously, but this year only one stalk emerged. It blooms for a long season--and the seedpods are decorative as well. 

Veratrum nigrum

Worth growing for the foliage alone...

I am not the only one who loves black flowers--my friend Paul Bonine has written an entire book about them (Black Plants: can be found very inexpensively on the web).