mountain death camas
(Anticlea elegans var. elegans)
Conservation • Wetland • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Use • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | not listed |
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| NatureServe | NNR - Unranked SNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Wetland Indicator Status |
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| Great Plains | FACW - Facultative wetland |
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| Midwest | FAC - Facultative |
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| Northcentral & Northeast | FACW - Facultative wetland |
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Description |
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Mountain death camas is a 4″ to 24″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises from a layered, unclustered, narrowly egg-shaped bulb. There are 10 or fewer basal leaves. They are grass-like, linear, 4″ to 11¾″ long, ⅛″ to ⅝″ wide, hairless, untoothed, and sometimes but not always covered with a whitish, waxy coating (glaucous). The stem is erect, hairless and glaucous, with a few much smaller leaves. The inflorescence is usually a narrow, unbranched cluster (raceme), sometimes a 1 or 2 branched cluster (panicle), of 10 to 50 flowers at the top of the stem. The flowers are subtended with egg-shaped bracts which, at full flower, are tinged with pink or purple and are wilted but persistent. The flowers are bell-shaped and ⅝″ to ¾″ in diameter. There are 3 whitish or greenish-yellow petals and 3 similar, petal-like sepals (6 tepals). The tepals are oblong to egg-shaped and have a green, inversely heart-shaped gland just below the middle. The fruit is a narrowly cone-shaped, 3-lobed, ⅜″ to ¾″ long capsule. |
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Height |
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4″ to 24″ |
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Flower Color |
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Whitish or greenish-yellow |
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Similar Species |
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White camas (Anticlea elegans ssp. glauca) is a larger plant. The leaves are always glaucous. The inflorescence is usually a branched cluster (panicle). In Minnesota the ranges overlap and the two subspecies intergrade. |
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Habitat |
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Beaches, prairies, bogs in coniferous forests |
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Ecology |
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Flowering |
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July to August |
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Pests and Diseases |
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Use |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 5/14/2023 | ||||
Nativity |
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Native |
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Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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| Kingdom | Plantae (green algae and land plants) | ||
| Subkingdom | Viridiplantae (green plants) | ||
| Infrakingdom | Streptophyta (land plants and green algae) | ||
| Superdivision | Embryophyta (land plants) | ||
| Division | Tracheophyta (vascular plants) | ||
| Subdivision | Spermatophytina (seed plants) | ||
| Class | Liliopsida (monocots) | ||
Order |
Liliales (lilies, supplejacks, and allies) | ||
Family |
Melanthiaceae (bunchflowers) | ||
| Tribe | Melanthieae | ||
Genus |
Anticlea (death camas) | ||
| Species | Anticlea elegans (mountain death camas) | ||
Mountain death camas was formerly included in the genus Zigadenus. However, that species was broadly defined and lacked very distinctive morphological features. In the nineteenth century (Kunth, 1843) separated it into the genus Anticlea, but this was not widely accepted. Molecular phylogenetic studies in 2001 confirmed its placement with ten other species in the genus Anticlea. USDA PLANTS, Flora of North America, and NatureServe Explorer continue to use the old name Zigadenus elegans. Virtually all other authoritative sources use the new name. |
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Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Zigadenus alpinus Zigadenus elegans ssp.elegans Zigadenus elegans var.elegans |
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Common Names |
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death camas mountain death camas mountain deathcamas white camas |
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Glossary
Bract
Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.
Glaucous
Pale green or bluish gray due to a whitish, powdery or waxy film, as on a plum or a grape.
Linear
Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.
Panicle
A pyramidal inflorescence with a main stem and branches. Flowers on the lower, longer branches mature earlier than those on the shorter, upper ones.
Raceme
An unbranched, elongated inflorescence with stalked flowers. The flowers mature from the bottom up.
Sepal
An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.
Tepal
Refers to both the petals and the sepals of a flower when they are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart. Tepals are common in lilies and tulips.
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Plant |
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_01.jpg "mountain death camas (var. elegans)") |
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Inflorescence |
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_05.jpg "mountain death camas (var. elegans)") |
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Flower |
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_02.jpg "mountain death camas (var. elegans)") |
_03.jpg "mountain death camas (var. elegans)") |
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_04.jpg "mountain death camas (var. elegans)") |
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