However, in a 2003 BBC documentary investigating the death of Alexander, Leo Schep from the New Zealand National Poisons Centre proposed that the plant white hellebore ( " Veratrum album " ), which was known in antiquity, may have been used to poison Alexander.
32.
"Veratrum album ", or white hellebore, an herbal medicine described by Hippocrates before 400 BC, contains the alkaloids cyclopamine and jervine, which are teratogens capable of causing cyclopia and holoprosencephaly, severe birth defects in which a fetus can be born with a single eye.
33.
His thesis very thoroughly examined the historical literature and sought to differentiate between the ancient use of " Helleborus niger ", or black hellebore, and the medicinal uses of the " white hellebore ", botanically " Veratrum album ", both of which are poisonous plants.
34.
The tribe has some distinctive features within the family Melanthiaceae, including nectaries on the tepals ( whose number and position is a useful identifying character for some genera ); the unusual way in which the anthers open ( dehisce ) to release pollen; and the possession of a particular class of alkaloids ( veratrum alkaloids ).
35.
""'Veratrum californicum " "'( "'California corn lily, white or California false hellebore "') is a poisonous plant native to mountain meadows at 3500 to 11, 000 ft elevation in southwestern North America, the Washington State and as far south as Durango.
36.
From the Moesian language or dialect, only a few items are recorded; their ethnonym ( Moesoi, Moesi ), some toponyms and anthroponyms, and a phytonym : " Mendruta ", the Moesian name for the False helleborine ( L . " Veratrum nigrum " ) or the Beet ( L . " Beta vulgaris " ).
37.
Sure, it's based on absurd theories, but suppose, say, the women in some village got a hankering for tea made with fresh veratrum flowers . ( Hippocrates was a great believer in the stuff, but I think he administered it all times of year ) Well, because of the critical periods of development, there might be one or two Zodiacal signs that specifically direct the birth of baby Cyclopes.
38.
In a 2014 manuscript in the journal Clinical Toxicology Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with " Veratrum album ", and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the " Alexander Romance " . " Veratrum album " poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, " Veratrum album " offers the most plausible cause.
39.
In a 2014 manuscript in the journal Clinical Toxicology Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with " Veratrum album ", and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the " Alexander Romance " . " Veratrum album " poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, " Veratrum album " offers the most plausible cause.
40.
In a 2014 manuscript in the journal Clinical Toxicology Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with " Veratrum album ", and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the " Alexander Romance " . " Veratrum album " poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, " Veratrum album " offers the most plausible cause.
