MEDICINAL USES:
False Hellebore root was an important medicine for First Nations Peoples, who used it – with a great deal of care and respect – for treating all sorts of diseases and illnesses. Among them, colds, coughs, fevers, constipation, stomach pains, tooth problems, gonorrhoea, tuberculosis, kidney and bladder troubles, back and chest pains. They also used it externally as a poultice for sprains, bruises, rashes and rheumatic pain.
False Hellebore is a powerful nervous system sedative, once used to treat hysteria, and acute fevers with pounding pulse and an engorgement of tissue that turns the skin a dark, rather than a bright, red. Even though it is highly poisonous, it was valued for powerful yet consistent effects. It metabolizes quickly, which made it easier to control its effects and toxicity. It was usually given in small doses every ½ hour. It was not considered safe, however, to use on children in the way that aconite was.
A small dose will reduce the force of the pulse without affecting its rate – an effective first aid for aneurysm (stroke). A moderate dose (1-3 drops of strong tincture) slows the pulse and lowers arterial pressure, which usually, in turn, slows respiration. At higher doses, there is violent nausea and vomiting, with the pulse becoming rapid, feeble, and irregular. This last can also appear with lower doses if there is any exertion. This effect was also recognized by the First Nations who maintained that anyone being treated with Corn Lily must remain absolutely motionless and away from any draft. Other symptoms of Hellebore poisoning include: frothing at the mouth, blurred vision, lockjaw and diarrhoea.
Bella Coola First Nations boiled the root before using, claiming that this reduced its toxicity (apparently they did not consider it poisonous when boiled). As far as I am aware, herbalists or scientists have not tested that claim.
CAUTION: The Corn Lily is deadly poisonous. This is not a plant for home use or experimentation under any sort of normal circumstances. Use it at your own risk. Even chewing the plant and spitting it out can deliver enough active ingredients to the human system to produce a toxic effect.
Deadly doses usually cause the consumer to throw up and evacuate the contents of the stomach, though this will not necessarily be enough to prevent death.
Digitalis (another deadly medicine) counteracts its effects on the heart and central nervous system.
OTHER USES: First Nations Peoples burned False Hellebore as a purifying smudge and added it to washing to purify clothing and remove human smell. The powdered root is used in commercial insecticide.
NNNN=Highly Poisonous