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Toxicoscordion micranthum


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 micranthum (Eastw.) A. Heller
NATIVE
Habit: Bulb 10--25 mm diam; outer coat dark brown to black. Stem: 15--50 cm, scabrous at least below. Leaf: < stem, 4--10 mm wide. Inflorescence: generally panicle; bracts 5--40 mm, green to white-membranous; pedicels generally spreading in fruit, with tips upturned or not, 12--40 mm. Flower: bisexual; perianth parts 3--8 mm, ovate to elliptic, not cordate, outer clawed < 5 mm or +- not clawed, inner clawed, gland distal margin evident, dentate; stamens +- = (>) perianth.
Ecology: Dry slopes, flats; Elevation: < 1000 m. Bioregional Distribution: NW; Distribution Outside California: southwestern Oregon. Flowering Time: Apr--Jul
Synonyms: Zigadenus micranthus Eastw.; Zigadenus micranthus var. micranthus
Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal & Wendy B. Zomlefer
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Citation for this treatment: Dale W. McNeal & Wendy B. Zomlefer 2012, Toxicoscordion micranthum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=89164, accessed on April 16, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 16, 2024.

Toxicoscordion micranthum
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©2004 George W. Hartwell
Toxicoscordion micranthum
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©2009 Julie Kierstead Nelson
Toxicoscordion micranthum
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©2008 Keir Morse
Toxicoscordion micranthum
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©2016 Keir Morse
Toxicoscordion micranthum
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©2016 Keir Morse

More photos of Toxicoscordion micranthum
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Geographic subdivisions for Toxicoscordion micranthum:
NW
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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).