262 PRINCIPAL STOCK-POISONING PLANTS 



Z. venenosus second, and that Z. elegans and Z. paniculalus, 

 probably the next two most important species, are only about 

 one-seventh as toxic' 



Losses of Stock and Animals Poisoned. — Although it is 

 impossible to estimate, even approximately, the total loss of 

 sheep from death camas poisoning, reports from various lo- 

 caUties indicate that it is often very heavy. For instance, in 

 Montana in 1900, 3,030 sheep were poisoned by death camas 

 and 636 of this number died.'' Reports from Wyoming record 

 500 deaths of sheep out of 1,700 poisoned, and it is said that 

 20,000 sheep died from this cause in 1909 in one county alone. 

 These figures do not include lambs, large numbers of which were 

 poisoned by the milk of the ewes. 



Most of the losses of stock from death camas poisoning occur 

 among sheep, but horses and cattle are also sometimes poisoned. 

 Stockmen generally are not famihar with the plant and are 

 therefore likely to attribute to other plants losses of stock which 

 may have been caused by death camas. The heaviest losses 

 from this plant seem to occur in Montana and Wyoming. Heavy 

 losses are also reported in Utah, Oregon, and California, Swine 

 are believed to be unharmed by death camas; indeed, they are 

 said to thrive on the bulb, which is sometimes called hog's- 

 potato. The heaviest losses of sheep occur early in the spring, 

 before other forage plants are abundant, and on ranges which 

 have been overgrazed. 



Poisonous Parts of Plant. — Investigators differ as to whether 

 the largest number of cases ot poisoning from death camas are 

 caused by the bulb or by the aerial portions of the plant. While 

 the entire plant, including the seeds, is known to be poisonous, 

 the bulb contains a large amount of active poison, though 

 evidently less than the seed.^ Whether or not the bulb is eaten 



' Marsh, C. D., Clawson, A. B., and Marsh, H., "Zygadenus, or Death Camas." 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bui. 125, p. 35, 1915. 



Marsh, C. D., and Clawson, A. B., "The Stock-Poisoning Death Camas." 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Farmers Bui. 1273, 1Q22. 



2 Chesnut, V. K., and Wilcox, E. V., "The Stock-Poisoning Plants of Montana." 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Bot., Bui. 26, p. 58, 1901. 



" Marsh, C. D., Clawson, A. B., and Marsh, H., "Zygadenus, or Death Camas." 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bui. 125, p. t,^, 1915. 



