SPERMATOPHYTA— LILIACEAE 377 



the roots of this, when eaten, produce death in four hours. It is said to con- 

 tain the bitter principle superbin (C.^H^^^K^O^^), perhaps identical with scillo- 

 toxin. The leaves ana roots of Paris quadrifolia of Europe have a bitter taste. 

 The berries are said to poison chickens and to produce gastro-enteritis in man. 

 The Aloe siiccotrina contains from 4-10 per cent of a bitter principle aloin, 

 also some emodin. Representatives of the genus Scilla and Urginea yield scilli- 

 picrin, scillin, and scillotoxiu, the latter of which resembles digitoxin ; the first 

 of these acts upon the heart ; where used as an emetic, it has proved fatal be- 

 cause of its irritant action on the intestines. The seeds of Sabadilla officinalis 

 are used as a parasiticide. They contain cevadin C^^H^^^NO^,, cevadilliit 

 C,,H,.,NO„, and are the principal source of veratrin C„^H..NO,,. and the 

 glucoside scillain or scillitin. According to Friedberger and Frohner animals 

 poisoned with "rat poison" (squill) had cerebral convulsions and erysipelas. 

 The rhizome of Solomon's Seal (Polygonafum giganteum) has an acrid bitter 

 taste. 



Chickerinchee (Oniithogalutn thyrsoides) is reported by Dr. Liautard (1) 

 to have been the cause of acute gastro-enteritis in horses in South Africa. 

 The species O. Muscari may possibly be poisonous since it is allied to the above 

 which an African veterinarian reports to be poisonous. The Star-of-Bethlehem 

 (O. iimbellatum) which is a pretty cultivated garden p'ant in the northern 

 United States has become an escape in Kentucky and is regarded as a rather 

 troublesome weed. The Tulip and Fritallaria are also poisonous. 



GENERA OF LILIACEAE 



Perianth bell-shaped, gamophyllous. 



Fruit a berry 5. Convallaria 



Perianth cleft or divided. 



Fruit a berry 6. Trillium 



Fruit a capsule. 



With scarious bracts 4. Allium 



Without scarious bracts. 



Roots bulbous 1. Zygadenus 



Roots not bulbous. 



Sepals with claws, free from the ovary 2. Melanthium 



Sepals without claws 3. Veratrum 



1. Zygadenus. Michx. Camas 



Smooth, erect, perennial herbs from bulbs or rootstocks ; leaves linear ; 

 greenish or white flowers in panicles ; stamens free from perianth segments ; 

 capsule 3-lobed and 3-celled. A small genus of about 8 species, native to North 

 America and Mexico. 



Zygadenus vcnenosus. Wats. Death Camas 



A pale green, slender perennial, 6 inches to 1^ feet high, from small 

 coated bulb ; leaves rough, somewhat shorter than the stem ; flowers borne in 

 a raceme, yellowish or yellow, polygamous : segments of the perianth ovate or 

 elliptical, free from ovary, bearing a roundish gland; capsule much larger than 

 the perianth. 



• (1) Am. Vet. Rev. 30:298. 



