Larkspur and Other Poisonous Plants. 19 
distention this operation should not be delayed. The value of 
bleeding is questionable. All measures which tend to depress the 
animal, such as forcible exercise, tobacco, aconite, etc., are posi¬ 
tively harmful. If on sloping ground, the head should be turned up 
the hill. 
death camas. (Zygad'enus Venenosus, Wats.) 
Other names: Wild lobelia, poison camas, poison grass, wild 
onion, poison sego, mystery grass, wild leek, crow foot. 
Description.. As will be seen from the accompanying plate, 
this plant bears a strong resemblance to the wild onion. On ac¬ 
count of its bulb it has also been mistaken for the prairie lilly or 
Indian sego. The bulb of the sego ( Calochortus ) is edible and has 
furnished food for travelers and generally eaten by the Indians. 
The wild onion is no doubt a harmless plant. Early in the season 
death camas looks like grass. It starts a little earlier than grass, 
and being more succulent and devoid of disagreeable odor or 
taste, is eaten freely. 
Wher e Found. The plant is found growing in every county 
in the mountain districts of the State. It is not found in the east¬ 
ern plains district. Its favoiite habitat is along shallow ravines 
where theie is slight seepage. It is often seen, however, growing 
singly and widely scattered over the high mesas and in shallow de¬ 
pressions commonly found in such places. It is not nearly so 
abundant nor so widely distributed as larkspur. The camas is much 
more abundant in the northern part of the State. 
While the loss from camas is no doubt small as compared with 
larkspur, yet for several reasons it is to be looked upon as one of 
our most dangerous poison weeds. Stock on the range are usually 
thin in the spring and ravenously hungry for the first green for¬ 
age that appears. Camas starts a little ahead of grass and is 
relished by all kinds of range stock. All parts of the plant are 
extremely poisonous and an animal does’ not need to eat a large 
quantity to become fatally poisoned. 
In Bulletin No. 37, of the Idaho Experiment Station, is found 
the following; 
“During the past year the tops were found by the Agricultural De¬ 
partment at Washington to contain a poisonous substance, one of the 
powerful veratrine alkaloids. The bulbs which have been reputed poison¬ 
ous were not examined. A study of this part of the plant in the Chemical 
Laboratory of the Idaho Experiment Station showed the presence of at 
least three alkaloids similar to veratrine, the most important of which 
appeared to be related to violent poison hellebore, a single milligram, which 
is only one-fiftieth of a grain, killed a frog in two minutes. The dose of 
strychnine fatal to the frog is twice that amount, from which some idea 
of the intensely poisonous nature of the bulbs may be gathered.” 
Symptoms. The symptoms of poisoning by camas are 
characteristic. At first they appear to be excited, are unsteady 
