A deadly beauty

Anticlea elegans, July 4, 2022

A. elegans, Linkins Lake Trail, 11,500’, July 5, 2022

Common & scientific name
Mountain death camas, Anticlea elegans

Family
False hellebore, Melanthiaceae

Location
Lower Lost Man, 10,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Its name says it all: this lovely (former) member of the lily family is extremely poisonous, responsible for the death of early western settlers who mistook its bulbs for Alliums (wild onions) or other edibles.

A. elegans, Linkins Lake Trail 11,800’, July 19, 2022