Toxicoscordion paniculatum

(Nutt.) S. Watson

Foothill deathcamas

MelanthiaceaeRootsSome parts severely toxic — see hazards

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(c) Robert Wilson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Robert Wilson

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(c) Zach Hawn, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Zach Hawn

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(c) Steve Matson, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Steve Matson

What to Eat

Edible parts: Bulbs

The bulbs are cooked together with meat and corn and eaten.

Known Hazards

Toxicoscordion paniculatum is infamous for its poisonous qualities in the western United States. All parts of the plant are poisonous, people have even been poisoned by the flowers. However, the most poisonous part is the bulb. Humans that have mistaken the bulbs for those of wild onions or camas and eaten them have been fatally poisoned. In 2003 eight people who mistook the bulbs for that of the edible sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii) were poisoned in Juab County, Utah. Six of them seriously enough to require hospitalization. Horses and cattle tend to avoid the plant and are therefore less commonly poisoned than sheep. Animals are most often poisoned when in pastures containing foothill death camas early in the spring before other plants begin to green up.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant.

North America, USA,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, St Vincent

How to Identify

Foothill deathcamas is a bulb plant in the Melanthiaceae family (also classified in Liliaceae) found in temperate regions.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Toxicoscordion paniculatum is a species of flowering plant known by the common names foothill deathcamas, panicled death-camas, and sand-corn. It is widely distributed across much of the western United States, especially in the mountains and deserts of the Great Basin region west of the Rocky Mountains. It grows in many types of habitats, including sagebrush plateau, grasslands, forests, and woodlands.