- Description:
Leaves arise from bulbs. Basal leaves are long, folded lengthwise, ½ inch wide and form a
clump. Flower stalks, topped with greenish-white flower clusters, are erect from the
center of the leaves.
- Comments:
All parts of the plant are poisonous to people and livestock. Plants and underground bulbs
resemble wild onions but without the onion odor. Human poisonings have occurred from
mistaking Nuttall’s Death-camas for onions. Moth larvae of the Eupithecia
genus feed exclusively on death-camas. They sequester the toxins for their own protection.
Most animals avoid the plants. In May, after a spring pasture burn, few prairie plants are
ungrazed, but one of them is death-camas. Nuttall’s Death-camas is found on open
prairies and rocky hillsides in the eastern one-third of Kansas.
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