TALL OR GLAUCOUS ZYGADENUS; WHITE 



CAMAS 



Zygadenus elegans Pursh 

 LILY FAMILY 



This beautiful Zygadenus may frequently be found in wet 

 meadows throughout the Western Provinces. However it may 

 occur, in scattered groups or in greater profusion, it is always in 

 a quiet and elegant way an attractive feature of the landscape. 



Springing from bulbous roots, the stems rise to a height of 

 one to three feet. Both stems and leaves are smooth and glaucous 

 whitened with a bloom. The smaller stems bear their flowers 

 in a simple raceme, but the stronger ones may carry a large, open 

 panicle of bloom a foot in length. Each flower, about three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, is white or greenish-white with a 

 large green gland, shining with a moist secretion, near the base 

 of each of its six divisions. The three-parted pistil with the 

 six surrounding stamens adds much to the beauty of the flower. 



This White Camas, to use another of its names, is unfortunat e 

 in its relatives. Several related species, known as Death Camas, 

 are so poisonous that numerous animals, especially sheep, die 

 each year from having eaten of them. The White Camas is said 

 to have in some degree the same poisonous principle, but to be 

 very seldom eaten by stock. With the descriptions here given 

 and the picture shown opposite as guides to identification no 

 one need make a mistake. The deadly species are smaller in 

 size, with narrower leaves which are rather rough to the touch. 

 Moreover, the gland, so distinctive of the White Camas, is not 

 much in evidence in the smaller and more crowded yellow or 

 yellowish flowers of the Death Camas. 



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