Zigadenus.'] MELANTHACE^. 177 



Ord. VIIL MELANTHACE^. Br. LvidL 



1. LEIMANTHIUM. Willd. 



1. L. hyhridum (Roem.); panicula racemosa elongata, sepalis orbicularibus undulatis 

 longe unguiculatis, glandulis connatis. Gray. Melanth. Am. Sept, Rev. p. 116 Melan- 



thium hybridum. Walt— Ph. Am. 1. p. 242. Torrey. I. p. 367. Nuttali.—M. racemosum. 

 Mich. 



Hab. Upper Canada. Mr Goldie (in Herb, nos^r.)-— Nuttall describes the leaves as elliptic-oblong: 

 Torrey, as they are in our specimens, long and linear. 



2. L, Nuttallii ; racemo compacto demum elongato, bracteis subulato-lanceolatis basi 

 membranaceis pedicellos floriferos superantibus, sepalis ovatis undulatis unguiculatis, 

 foliis linearibus conduplicatis marginibus scaberrimis, bulbo tunicato. — AmianthiLim 

 Nuttallii. Gray. L c. p. 123. — Helonias angustifolia. Nutt, [non Mx.) and H. paniciilata, 

 Nutt. (fide Gray.) ^ 



Hab, N. W, Coast. Menzies. Common both to the north and south of the Columbia, on dry gravelly 



soils. Douglas. Dr Scolder. Tolmie. Dr Gairdner " Poison or Death Camass** of the Chenooks, from 



the violent effects of the roots, which create vomiting. Bulb about the size of a chestnut. Stem 1-2 feet 

 high, sparingly leafy. Pedicels much elongated, erect after flowering. Capsules (of three slightly com- 

 bined follicles) half an inch and more long, oblong-triangular, surrounded at the base with the withered 

 perianth, and terminated by the three nearly erect persistent styles, opening at the top between the styles. 

 Seeds, about two perfect ones in each cell, oblong somewhat 3-angular, the angles almost forming wings. 

 The sepals are distinctly clawed, and at the top of the claw is a depression, where the sides, lapping over 

 a little, give the appearance of two small scales : but the nectary is rather a depression than an appendage. 

 The habit of the plant is extremely like that of Helonias an^us^t/b/m, but the sepals are of a very different 

 structure. 



2. ZIGADENUS. Mich. 



1. Z, chloranthus {Rich, App. p, 12); scapo pauci-folioso, racemo subsimplicij sepalis 

 cbovatis obtusis, glandula obcordata profunda emarginata. — Z. commutatus. Schidt, Syst, 

 Veget. 7. p. 1560. Hook, et Am. in Bot, of Beech, p. 161. — Z. glabenimus. Ker, Bot. Mag, 

 t. 1680. [not Mich.)—Z. glaucus? Nutt, PL of Rocky M, p. 56. Gray. I. c. p. 113. 

 Melanthiuni glaucum? Nutt. Gen. 1, p. 232. — /3. major; foliis longioribus, scapo pani- 



■- T 



culato. — Z. speciosus. Dougl. mst, — Z. glaberrimus. Hook, et Am, in Bot. of Beech, p. 

 160. {not Mich.) 



Hab. Upper Canada. Nuttall? Goldie; to Great Bear Lake, and to the Rocky Mountains. Dr Rich- 

 ardson. Drummond. — /3. Rocky Mountains (with «.), and to the vallies on the west side. Drunimond. 

 Douglas. Murray Bay, Canada. Mrs Sheppard, — (To this var. I would refer the Caiifornian Z. glaberri- 

 mus of the Bot. of Beechey*s Voy.) — I am quite satisfied that the Z. glaberrimus of Bot. Mag. is this plant, 

 and that it is a very distinct species from the real glaberrimus of Mx., of which I have Georgian specimens 

 from Dr Torrey, in which the sepals are ovato-lanceolate, and the two glands are apart from each other and 

 very conspicuous : here they are combined into one obcordate gland. The species is, however, liable to 

 considerable variation in the size, in the mort or less leafy stem, in the length of the leaves, and in the more 



or less paniculated raceme, I do not know whether to infer from the following remark of Nuttall that he 



VOL. II. Z 



