LILIACEAE. 99 



115. ZIGADENUS. 



Glabrous erect perennial herbs from coated bulbs each crowning 

 a very short rhizome, and with leafy stems; leaves linear; inflo- 

 rescence a terminal panicle or raceme ; flowers perfect or polyga- 

 mous, greenish, yellowish or white; perianth-segments lanceolate 

 or ovate, separate or united below, sometimes adnate to the 

 lower part of the ovary, each with one or tw T o glands or a spot 

 just above the narrowed base; stamens free from the perianth- 

 segments, about equalling them in length; ovary 3-celled; ovules 

 several or numerous in each cavity. 



Petals 8-10 mm. long; gland obcordate. Z. elegans. 

 Petals 6-8 mm. long; gland obovate. 



Inflorescence racemose; petals obtuse. Z. venenosus. 



Inflorescence paniculate; petals acute. Z. paniculatus. 



Zigadenus elegans Pursh. Stems 15-60 cm. tall; leaves flat, 4-12 mm. 

 wide, very glaucous; flowers greenish, panicled; perianth segments lanceolate, 

 short-clawed, 8-10 mm. long, united to the base of the ovary. 



In the mountains, rare in our limits. Olympic Mountains, Flett. 



Zigadenus venenosus Wats. Death Camas. Stems 30-50 cm. tall, from 

 ovoid, dark-coated bulbs; leaves several, linear, keeled, 3-5 mm. broad, shorter 

 than the stems; raceme many-flowered, 5-10 cm. long, much longer in fruit; 

 flowers yellowish, on pedicels 5-10 mm. long; bracts awl-shaped; perianth- 

 segments clawed, elliptical, the blade obtuse; nectaries with thick margins. 



Common in meadows and in hillsides, Vancouver Island to California. 

 Bulbs poisonous. 



Zigadenus paniculatus Wats. Similar to Z. venenosus but stouter and often 

 taller; bulb larger, often elongate; leaves 6-15 mm. broad, usually all sheathing; 

 panicle many-flowered; flowers whitish; perianth segments deltoid-ovate, 

 acute, abrupcly narrowed to the claw; nectary not definitely margined. 



A plant of the sage brush region; rare in our limits. Admiralty Head, 

 Whidby Island, 0. A. Piper. 



116. STENANTHIUM. 



Smooth perennial herbs; stem leafy from a bulbous base; 

 leaves long and grass-like; flowers numerous, small, in a long 

 terminal panicle; perianth spreading, the segments long, lanceol- 

 ate and adhering to the base of the ovary; stamens short; seeds 

 nearly wingless. 



Stenanthium occidentale Gray. Bulb oblong-ovoid; stems 15-40 cm. 

 high ; leaves linear-lanceolate, acuminate, shorter than the stem ; flowers greenish 

 or more commonly purplish-brown, nodding, in a simple or branched raceme; 

 perianth segments lanceolate, acuminate, recurved at the tip, 12-16 mm. long. 



In the mountains, rare. 



117. ASPARAGUS. 



Perennial herbs or half-shrubs with much branched stems from 

 thick matted rootstocks; leaves reduced to scales, the upper ones 



