Description

The deathcamas genus, Toxicoscordion, has about seven representatives in California. Foothill deathcamas grows in the foothills of the northern Central Valley, the Modoc Plateau, and the eastern Sierra Nevada (Great Basin). From there its range continues through much of the interior of the western US. This is a rather unusual range for California’s native flora. The deathcamas are so named because certain species of this deadly plant are found among camas lilies of the genus Camasia, which were harvested by Native Americans as a food source. Foothill deathcamas begins life as a small narrow leaf, looking very much like a blade of grass. As the years advance the leaves grow larger and more numerous. Once the bulb is of adequate size (=stored energy) a tall flower stalk appears topped by a panicle of creamy white flowers. The flowers are pollinated - perhaps exclusively - by the little death camas miner bee, Andrena astragali, in the plant’s native range. The pollen and nectar are likely toxic to all other pollinators.