DEATHCAMAS 



Zygadenus elegans Pursh 



In nature's flower gardens in the Canadian Rockies we find in July 

 quantities of this elegant plant. The bunch of pale, grasslike leaves is 

 surmounted by several stems on which are carried a number of green- 

 ish white flowers with a bright green gland at the base of each petal. 

 They sway in the breezes, and make a lovely group with wild peas, 

 columbines, asters, and other mountain flowers. They are free from 

 the limitations of many mountain plants, since all kinds of slopes, 

 exposures, and soils seem satisfactory for their growth, though the 

 finest specimens we ever found were growing out of calcareous tufa. 

 The horses know the plant well, and are never deceived into eating 

 its poisonous leaves, though these appear much like grass when the 

 plant is out of bloom. 



This species of deathcamas has a wide range, growing in suitable 

 situations, in the mountains of Nevada and New Mexico and north- 

 ward to North Dakota and Alaska. 



The specimen sketched was obtained on the Clearwater River, 

 thirty-five miles by trail north of Lake Louise Station, British Colum- 

 bia, at an altitude of 6,500 feet. 



PLATE 116 



