This characteristic bulbous herb of the deathcarnas genus (Zyga^ 

 deivus) is abundant and widely distributed in the West. The specific 

 name venenosus is a Latin word meaning poisonous. The plant 

 is found from British Columbia to California, Utah, Nebraska, and 

 South Dakota, its altitudinal range extending from 1,400 to 8,000 

 feet. The species prefers rich, moist bottom lands and lower foot- 

 hills, but sometimes grows on rocky sites. This plant does not 

 ordinarily appear in pure stands, but is very plentiful on some over- 

 grazed ranges. 



Meadow deathcamas is one of the most toxic range species, 1 being 

 responsible for the loss of thousands of sheep. It is particularly 

 dangerous, because it furnishes green, succulent feed in advance of 

 many other plants on the early spring ranges. The best way to 

 prevent losses is to herd the sheep away from the areas which are 

 heavily infested. Cultivation will kill meadow deathcamas, but the 

 practice of good range management is probably the most practical 

 method of permanent control, especially if supplemented by the seed- 

 ing of suitable range grasses to crowd out the meadow deathcamas. 

 Sheep are not likely to eat the plant if plenty of other forage is 

 available. Losses seldom occur on the high summer range, because 

 there is an abundance of other succulent forage, and because the 

 meadow deathcamas plants are dry and unpalatable before the sheep 

 arrive. 



The flowers appear during May and June, and the seed is dissem- 

 inated in July and August. Further information on deathcamas 

 is given in the notes for the genus Zygadenus. 



1 Marsh, C. D., and Clawson, A. B. THE MEADOW DEATH CAMAS (ZYGADENUS VENENOSCS) 

 AS A POISONOUS PLANT. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 1240, 14 pp., illus. 1924. 



