25/08/2026
🦇A fascinating, deadly plant with a name reminding of "strigoi".
🌱During a hike to the location of the fictional Castle Dracula as imagined by Bram Stoker, his great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker Author and our tour manager Gloria Andersson were guided by a knowledgeable park ranger and discovered Veratrum album (White Hellebore / Romanian local name "Strigoaie").
☠️A highly toxic, real-world perennial native to Europe and Asia. In Romanian traditional folklore, it is called "strigoaie" due to its extreme, lethal toxicity and historic associations with dark rituals and spirits.
However, modern day veterinarians strongly advise against using this plant to treat sheep of liver fluke. Historically, shepherds observed that ingesting small amounts of the plant had an antiparasitic/vermicidal effect, causing sheep to purge or expelling internal parasites like the liver fluke, but these are things of the past.
On our adventures following the red thread of the novel Dracula, we find exciting and unexpected things.
Join us on our next expedition with Dacre Stoker, May 2027, celebrating 130 years since the novel Dracula was published.
We don't always go the the same places, so this hike is not going to be repeated next year, but there are other iconic stops that you don't want to miss.
Itinerary in profile link.
