The Sego Lily and the Death Camass

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Because the sego lily is such a beautiful flower and so sparsely scattered in some regions, you should dig its bulbs only when the plants are found growing in profusion . . . and even then (unless your survival is at stake), be sure to leave at least half the patch and to rotate your gathering areas.

A DEADLY LOOK-ALIKE

Great care must be taken not to confuse the widely scattered sego lily with another member of the Liliaceae family, the death camass (genus Zigadenus ). Various species of the latter may be found all across temperate North America. Eight types occur in the Rocky Mountains (among the most common are Z. elegans, Z. paniculatus, Z. gramineus, and Z. venenosus ) and 17 in the intermountain area. Some of the plant's familiar names are wand lily, coxcomb, wild mignonette, sand corn, alkolic grass, and—in the southeastern states, a range it does not share with the sego lily-crow poison and St. Agnes feather.

The semidesert varieties of Zigadenus are generally found in dry ground at lower elevations (2,000 to 7,000 feet). The mountain species prefer moist areas (unfortunately, they'll often grow right next to an edible blue camass, Camassia quamash, in wet meadows) and semiwooded areas from 6,000 to 12,000 feet in elevation. In the northern and southeastern United States, the plants are at home in bogs, coastal plains, and wet pine lands.

When in bloom, the death camass ranges from 6 inches all the way up to 8 feet tall. The flowers are either white, greenish white, or cream-colored and—in the West—tend to have general characteristics similar to those of the example shown in the accompanying photos. Depending upon latitude, elevation, and species, they may bloom from March to August, with Z.paniculatus being one of the first plants to appear in the Rocky Mountain sagebrush communities. However, in contrast to the single bluegreen blade of the sego lily shoot (C. nuttallii), two to six of the death camass's bright green leaves break through the soil at about the same time. Also, a crosscut will reveal that the young leaf of Z. paniculatus is V-shaped, while a cross section of the edible lily's new leaf is U-shaped. But like those of the sego, the camass's dry seed pods often stay on well into-or throughthe winter.

The bulbs of Z. paniculatus and Z. elegans are 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter and—as is the case with many sego lily species—are found 4 to 6 inches deep in the ground. They're covered with black or dark brown skins, and a cross section will reveal many layers or rings, similar to those of an onion but without the onion odor.

DANGER! BEWARE!

All parts of the death camass are toxic, and the fact that the sego lily, wild onion, and death camass often grow side by side—sometimes within inches of one another—makes proper identification essential and difficult. For example, when digging the sego lily or wild onion, it's not unusual to break the stem from the bulb . . . and, in searching for the lost edible, to come up with the bulb of a death camass instead! A single one of the poisonous bulbs—even if added to a large stew—can be dangerous . . . so knowing and checking the number of rings could prevent your becoming a medical statistic.

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