Zigadenus

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Melanthiaceae

• Scientific Name

  Zigadenus

• Description

  Genus Description - Fls perfect or polygamous; tep 6, all ± alike, with 1 or 2 small flat glands below the middle; stamens 6; filaments slender at least above; anthers extrorse, obcordate, the thecae confluent; ovary 3-lobed, the base sometimes adnate to the base of the perianth, each lobe prolonged into a short divergent style; ovules few; capsule 3-lobed, ovoid to conic, surrounded at base by the persistent perianth; poisonous perennial herbs, the erect stems arising from a bulb or thick rhizome, bearing long linear lvs near the base, reduced or bract-like ones above, and a simple raceme or several racemes or a panicle; fls white or suffused with brown on purple on the lower side. (Anticlea, Oceanoros, Tracyanthus, Zygadenus–a later spelling) 15, N. Amer. and e. Asia.

• Common Names

  death-camas