by Dr. F. Alice LeDuc
Death Camas – Toxicoscordion venenosum, Meadow Death Camas; Anticlea elegans, Alpine or Mountain Death Camas
In my article last week I wrote about the Common Camas and the Great Camas, then at the end of the article I mentioned that these plants should not be confused with the Death Camas that is extremely poisonous! As promised here is the article on the Death Camas.
I was extremely surprised when I started looking into the plant, no surprise the names have been changed. Originally in all the field guides of wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest the genus for both was Zigadenus. This generic name was given to the species in 1879 by S. Watson. In 1903 P. A Rydberg assigned the species of Meadow Death Camas to a new genus Toxcicoscordion. This generic name did not catch on so through the 20th century the earlier name was maintained. With the tools provided and with our knowledge of DNA it was determined that Rydberg was correct so in 2002 the name Toxicoscordion was brought back.
This article is going to focus on the Meadow Death Camas or just Death Camas. The range of the plant is the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, Canada and the northern plains. The habitat is sunny open meadows, grasslands and open pine woodlands. They prefer moist conditions but can survive on dryer soils.
How to identify Death Camas, the leaves are basal, arising in early spring, they are 4 ½ to 19 ½ inches long and 1/8 to 3/8 inches wide and sharply folded into a “V” shape. There may be much smaller leaves along the flower stock that arises from the center of the basal leaves. The flower spike is topped by an inflorescence of 10 – 50 flowers. The inflorescence looks somewhat pyramidal in shape. The small flowers are off white and appear star-shaped. The six perianth parts are similar and called tepals. The outer three are egg-shaped and the base of each tepal is curved inward, while the inner three are lance-shaped are more yellowish to yellowish green at the base of each tepal. The six stamens are slightly longer than the tepals. Beneath each flower are bracts that maybe white or green. The underground storage structure is an egg-shaped bulb with a flat base. This species flowers from April or May and even as late as July.
The Death Camas is well deserving of its deadly toxic reputation. The plants contain alkaloids that increase in number as the flowers mature and seed pods form. As few as two bulbs will kill an adult person and the toxicity does not decrease with cooking. While plants are in flower they are easily identified, however the bulbs are very similar to other plants. The toxic elements are extremely stable and are retained within the blubs in storage for decades. It also seems that the toxic level in the plants is higher when plants grow in dry soils and are definitely more toxic during periods of drought. Even animals are susceptible to the poison especially sheep. Even pigs have been known to vomit any plant materials that contains Death Camas. This is a plant to keep at a respectful distance. Stick to growing and enjoying the Common Camas – Camissa instead.
