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Toxicoscordion exaltatum


Higher Taxonomy
Family: MelanthiaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: FALSE-HELLEBORE FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb, from rhizome or bulb, or rhizomes ending in weakly developed bulbs, scapose or not. Leaf: alternate, whorled, or mostly basal and spirally arranged, deciduous after 1 year or not. Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or flowers 1. Flower: perianth parts 6, in 2 petal-like whorls or of sepals and petals, free or fused below, +- spreading; stamens 6, from perianth, anthers attached at base or near middle; ovary superior or partly inferior, chambers 3, styles 3, persistent. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal or septicidal.
Genera In Family: 10 genera, 130 species: northern hemisphere. Note: W North America Zigadenus moved to Toxicoscordion.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Dale W. McNeal, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: ToxicoscordionView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: DEATH CAMAS
Stem: +- scapose. Leaf: +- basal, reduced upward, linear, generally folded, +- curved, entire, deciduous after 1 year. Inflorescence: raceme or panicle; flower bracts 1 (or reportedly 2). Flower: staminate, sterile, or generally bisexual; perianth parts 6, petal-like, free or +- fused to ovary base, white to +- yellow [or not], adaxially with [0]1[2] glands near base; stamens 6, free to +- attached to perianth; ovary superior, chambers 3, styles 3. Fruit: capsule, septicidal. Seed: many.
Etymology: (Greek: poison garlic, for poisonous bulb) Toxicity: All taxa highly TOXIC (generally unpalatable) to livestock, humans from alkaloids (especially in bulbs). Note: As treated in TJM (1993), Zigadenus polyphyletic, so California members transferred to Toxicoscordion (Zomlefer & Judd 2002 Novon 12:299--308).
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal & Wendy B. Zomlefer
Toxicoscordion exaltatum (Eastw.) A. Heller
NATIVE
Habit: Bulb 20--60 mm, 20--50 mm diam, ovoid; outer coat dark brown. Stem: 30--100 cm, glabrous. Leaf: 20--60 cm, 5--30 mm wide, scabrous-ciliate. Inflorescence: panicle, 20--40 cm, open; bracts 3--25 mm, green to white-membranous; pedicels in fruit spreading, 10--40 mm. Flower: bisexual except on lower branches staminate or with stunted ovary, 3 long styles; perianth parts 5--12 mm, ovate to elliptic, obtuse, outer +- not clawed, inner clawed 1--2 mm, gland distal margin evident, dentate; stamens 2/3--3/4 perianth; styles erect to +- spreading. Fruit: 10--25 mm, oblong. Chromosomes: n=11.
Ecology: Meadows, wooded slopes; Elevation: 600--1500 m. Bioregional Distribution: SNF. Flowering Time: Apr--Jun
Synonyms: Zigadenus exaltatus Eastw.
Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal & Wendy B. Zomlefer
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Toxicoscordion brevibracteatum
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Citation for this treatment: Dale W. McNeal & Wendy B. Zomlefer 2012, Toxicoscordion exaltatum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=89161, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Toxicoscordion exaltatum
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©2017 Neal Kramer
Toxicoscordion exaltatum
click for enlargement
©2017 Neal Kramer
Toxicoscordion exaltatum
click for enlargement
©2017 Neal Kramer
Toxicoscordion exaltatum
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©2017 Neal Kramer
Toxicoscordion exaltatum
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©2010 Barry Breckling

More photos of Toxicoscordion exaltatum
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Geographic subdivisions for Toxicoscordion exaltatum:
SNF.
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).