Mountain Death Camas (Elegant Deathcamas, Alkali Grass)
Zigadenus elegans
July 7, 1806, in Lewis and Clark County, Montana.
A plant with long, grasslike leaves and cream or greenish white, bowl-shaped flowers in a raceme or branched flower cluster. Leaves 6-12 in (15-30 cm) long. Flowers about 0.8 in (2 cm) wide; six broad, petal-like segments, each with a greenish, heart-shaped gland at base. Height: 6-28 in (15-70 cm).
Mountain meadows, rocky slopes, and forests.
Western Canada; south to western Washington, eastern Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Native Americans and early settlers were poisoned when they mistook the bulbs for edible species, such as the camas lily (Camassia). No plants of the genus Zigadenus should ever be eaten.
