100 LIUACEAK. 



2. Z. venenosus "Wats. Dkath Camas. Plants iy 2 to 2 ft. high; bulb oblong- 

 ovate aboul 4 to 6 lines in diameter; leaves narrowly Linear, 1 to 2 1 / J lines 

 broad, earinate and usually folded, scabrous on the margin; raceme commonly 

 simple and narrow, "> to 5 or L0 in. long, the bracts setaceous-acuminate; 

 perianth-segments triangular-ovate to elliptical, 2 or ."> lines long, abruptly 

 contracted to a short claw; gland irregular on its upper si<le but not toothed; 

 si aniens nearly equaling the segments; ovules <> to 8 in each cell; capsules on 

 erect pedicels, often contracted at apex. 



Meadows near the coast from Monterey northward; Sierra Nevada. Very 

 poisonous, especially to sheep. Hogs seem immune, whence ''Hog's Potato." 



13. VERATRUM L. False Hellebore 

 Stems tall and leafy from short thick rootstocks, bearing coarse fibrous 

 roots. Leaves broad, plaited, coarsely nerved. Stem and inflorescence {tubes- 

 cent. Flowers polygamous, greenish or cream-color, in a terminal panicle. 

 Perianth of 6 distinct obovate-oblong segments, somewhat contracted at the 

 base, adnate to the base of the ovary. Stamens 6, opposite the perianth- 

 segments and free from them, shorter by half and recurving; filaments subu- 

 late; anthers with confluent cells, cordate. Styles 3, persistent, mostly curved. 

 Capsule 3-celled, 3-lobed. (Latin vere, truly, and ater, black, in reference to 

 the color of the roots.) 



Perianth-segments oblong-obovate or oblanceolate, entire or merely denticulate near the 

 apex; capsule oblong-ovoid, about 1 in. long 1. V . calif ornicum. 



Perianth-segments rhombic-ovate, deeply fringed except at the base; capsule, depressed- 

 globose with notched apex, 4 lines long 2. V. finibriatum. 



1. V. calif ornicum Durand. Stem very stout and leafy, suggesting a corn- 

 stalk, 3 to 5 or 6 ft. high; leaves ovate or elliptic-oblong, sheathing at base, 

 6 to 12 in. long or the uppermost lanceolate and shorter; panicle 1 to 1% 

 ft. long, the lower portion often sterile; pedicels 1 to 4 lines long; perianth- 

 segments 7 or 8-nerved, 4 to 9 lines long, with a thickened greenish margin 

 toward the base, the margin near the apex often somewhat denticulate or erose; 

 stamens 3 or 4 lines long; capsule % to 1*4 in. long. 



Wet meadows and about springs, a characteristic plant of the Sierra Nevada 

 at 5000 to 6000 ft.; also in the high North Coast Ranges. Often reported as 

 poisonous to stock. 



2. V. fimbriatum Gray. Similar in habit to the preceding; leaves very long 

 and narrow, 7 to 19 in. long and about 2 in. wide; panicle 7 to 12 in. long, 

 its branches widely spreading; pedicels 4 lines long; perianth-segments rhombic- 

 ovate, 2 to 5 lines long, the margin (deft into filiform segments, except at the 

 broad base which bears two oblong more or less glandular spots reaching to 



the middle of the segment and separated by a furrow; filaments 2 lines long; 

 styles long and slender; capsule depressed or globose and somewhat notched at 

 apex, 4 lines long, the walls membranous; Beed scarcely margined. 

 Mendocino ''White Plains'' and northward. 



14. XEROPHYLLUM Michx. 

 Perennials with a thick and short woody rootstock bearing cord like 1 roots. 



Badical leaves sedge like in a dense tuft, numerous, elongated ami very narrow- 

 ly linear, dry, Berrulate. Stem simple, stout and leafy, bearing a many-flow eie.l 



raceme; pedicels Blender, white. Perianth white or cream-colored, of 6 distinct 

 several nerved persistent segments. stamens 6, with rounded extrorse an- 

 thers. Ovary 3-lobed ; styles :!, distinct. Capsule chartaceous, loculicidal, or 



