DEATH CAMAS. 51 



the penetrating action of the sharp barbed awns of the porcupine 

 grass {Stipa spartea) and squirrel tail {Hordeum jiihatum). Both of 

 these grasses make good fodder if cut when they are still young, but 

 when nearly mature the awns easil}^ separate and frequentl}^ get into 

 the mouth and throat or the eyes and ears of stock, where they pen- 

 etrate into the tissues and give rise ultimately to ulcers which cause 

 such intense suffering to the animal that it must sometimes be killed. 

 The squirreltail grass is well known throughout the State; the porcu- 

 pine grass is not nearly so common. 



PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK IN MONTANA, OR SO REPUTED. 



MOST IMPORTANT POISONOUS SPECIES. 



DEATH CAMAS. ^ 



{Zygadenus venenosus S. Wats.) 



Other names: Poison camas, lobelia, squirrel food, wild onion, 

 poison sego, poison sego lily, mystery grass. 



DESCRIPTION, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION. 



A smooth, simple-stemmed perennial with a coated, onion-like bulb, 

 narrow, linear leaves, and a short terminal cluster of yellowish-green 

 (lowers. The plant grows everywhere in Montana in moderately 

 moist places on open ranges. Outside of Montana it is found from 

 British Columbia to South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, and California. 



Of all the various plants which are known or suspected to poison 

 stock in earlj^ spring in Montana the death camas is undoubtedly the 

 most important. This plant is found in every county of the State, 

 and on every stock range which we had opportunity to visit. It 

 usually occurs in great abundance in the localities where it is found, 

 and these localities are, unfortunately, as a rule, moderately moist 

 places, where the grass starts earliest in the spring. Another reason 

 why this plant has to be considered the most important poisonous one 

 concerned in cases of spring poisoning is that it starts up very early, 

 usually somewhat in advance of the native grasses. A third reason is 

 that its leaves are narrow and resemble grass leaves, though at the 

 same time slightly thicker and more succulent than grass. These 



^ Under the name death camas we mean to include those Montana forms which 

 for many years have been known as Zi/c/adenus venenosus. These have recently been 

 separated into several new species, which were described by Dr. P. A. Rydberg in 

 the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, vol. 27, pp. 533 to 536, 1900. Our speci- 

 mens were identified by Rydberg as the species which he has named Z. gramhiens said 

 Z. intcrmedius. Another authority to whom the s])ecimens were submitted was of the 

 opinion that our specimens belong to a single species. It is quite possible that they 

 are distinct from Z. venenosus, but they have not been so considered in making up 

 our notes. 



