Alternate name: Elegant Deathcamas, Alkali Grass

Family: Liliaceae, Lily view all from this family

Description A plant with long, basal, grass-like leaves and cream or greenish-white, bowl-shaped flowers in a raceme or branched flower cluster.
Flowers: about 3/4" (2 cm) wide; 6 broad, petal-like segments, each with a greenish, heart-shaped gland at base; flower parts attached around sides of ovary rather than at base.
Leaves: 6-12" (15-30 cm) long.
Height: 6-28" (15-70 cm).

Warning Deathcamases are among the most infamous western plants, poisoning many livestock, especially sheep. Native Americans and early settlers were also poisoned whenever they mistook the bulbs for those of edible species, such as the Camas Lily (Camassia). No plants of the genus Zigadenus should ever be eaten. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.

Flower June-August.

Habitat Mountain meadows, rocky slopes, and forests.

Range Western Canada; south to western Washington, eastern Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Discussion The highly poisonous Meadow Deathcamas (Z. venenosus) grows throughout most of the western United States. It has petal-like segments about 1/4" (6 mm) long, the inner 3 slightly longer and with a short stalk at the base, and stamens about as long as the segments.