Friday, March 25, 2011

Plant of the Week


Death camas
Zigadenus elegans Pursh
other common names: alkali grass, smooth camass, white camass
Zigadenus (also Zygadenus): probably from Greek zygos, meaning “a yoke,” and aden, meaning “a gland,” because the glands sometimes occur in pairs. (Also called Anticlea.)
Elegans: from Latin for “elegant,” perhaps in reference to the showy flower heads
Lily family: Liliaceae

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition

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