76 



LILIACEAE (LILT FAMILY) 



the same length; style very short. Capsules bluntly oblong, 

 three-celled, filled with fine brown seed, which is widely sown by 

 the wind. (Fig. 40.) 



Means of control 



Drainage of the ground, and a season or two of thorough culti- 

 vation, are necessary in order to destroy the system of branching 

 rootstocks. For small areas they may be grubbed out. 



venenosus). x $. 



DEATH CAMAS 



Zygddenus venenosus, S. Wats. 



Other English names: Poison Camas, Poison 



Sego, Hog's Potato, Mystery Grass. 

 Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and 



by bulbs. 



Time of bloom : May to June. 

 Seed-time: June to July. 

 Range: South Dakota to British Columbia, 



southward to Nebraska, Utah, and California. 

 Habitat: Shallow ravines, sides of foothills, 



upland pastures. 



Western stockmen, particularly the sheep 

 growers of Wyoming and Montana, owe to 

 this plant a loss of many thousands of dollars 

 yearly. All parts of it are poisonous to all 

 grazing animals, but cattle usually reject it 

 because of its bitter taste; horses are even 

 more particular; but sheep feed with little 

 discrimination and are, besides, the stock most 

 commonly kept on the high benchlands and 

 foothills where the plant is most abundant. 

 (Fig 41.) 



It springs from an elongated, ovoid, coated 

 bulb, a half-inch or less in thickness, the 

 stems six to twenty inches tall, slender and 

 upright. Leaves very narrow- and grass-like, 

 deep green, with roughened margins and mid- 



rib > usuall y P artl y folded and with sheathing 

 base. Flowers greenish or yellowish white, in 



