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• Melanthiaceae
• Anticlea
• Anticlea elegans

Anticlea elegans — mountain death camas

Facts

Mountain death camas is very rare in New England, being known only from the shores of Lake Champlain, Vermont, where it grows on lakshore headlands and bluffs on high-pH bedrock. It is poisonous to humans and cattle, and a common source of poisoning in sheep. The flowers have a characteristic unpleasant odor.

Habitat

Cliffs, balds, or ledges, ridges or ledges, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Axillary bulblets

  there are no bulblets being produced in axils

• Flowers

  Anther attachment

  the anther is attached at its midpoint to the filament

  Bulblets replace flowers

  there are no bulblets where the flowers are located

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused (the number of carpels equals the number of locules)

  Flower bract length

  5–20 mm

  Flower bracts

  there are bracts associated with the flower

  Flower number

  10–50

  Flower orientation

  the flowers point upward or spread or curve outward

  Flower petal color

  • green to brown
  • white

  Flower petal length

  7–12 mm

  Flower shape

  • the flower is bell-shaped
  • the flower is flattened or platter-shaped

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Form of style

  the style is knob-like at the tip, and unbranched

  Fringed petal edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Hairs on flower stalk

  the flower stalk has no hairs on it

  Inflorescence hair glands

  the axis of the inflorescence has no hairs on it

  Inflorescence length

  100–300 mm

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence is a panicle (branched with the individual flowers on stalks)
  • the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)

  Inflorescence width

  30–60 mm

  Length of flower stalk

  10–23 mm

  Length of peduncle

  90–250 mm

  Marks on petals

  • the petals have spots or streaks on them
  • there are no noticeable marks on the petals

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  3

  Number of pistils

  1

  Number of sepals and/or petals

  there are six petals, sepals or tepals in the flower

  Number of styles

  3

  Ovary position

  • the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
  • the ovary is below the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal base

  the petal narrows gradually or does not narrow at the base

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Petal nectaries

  there are nectaries at the petal bases

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble petals in color and texture

  Sepal length

  7–12 mm

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Spathe

  the plant does not have a spathe

  Spathe form

  NA

  Spathe length

  0 mm

  Stamen length

  3.5–12 mm

  Stamen number

  6

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamen types

  the stamens within a cycle are all similar

  Stamens fused outwards

  the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

  Style petal-like

  the style is not broad and flattened like a petal

  Tepals

  the petals and sepals are similar in size and color

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit compartments

  there are three locules in the fruit

  Fruit cross-section

  the fruit is round in cross-section

  Fruit length

  10–20 mm

  Fruit stalk orientation

  the fruits point upward or spread or curve outward

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

  Other markings on berry

  NA

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Underground organs

  the plant has one or more swollen storage organs underground, such as bulbs, tubers or corms

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant

  Leaf blade basal lobes

  the leaf blades do not have basal lobes

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf blade clasps the stem at the base, or the leaf blade goes all the way around the stem, so that the stem appears to pierce the leaf blade
  • the leaf has no stalk

  Leaf blade base shape

  NA

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf blade has a noticeable waxy or powdery bloom

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section

  Leaf blade faces

  both surfaces of the leaf blade are exposed

  Leaf blade form

  Fully-formed (i.e., expanded), +/- green leaf blades are found somewhere on the plant

  Leaf blade length

  100–300 mm

  Leaf blade orientation

  the upper surface of the leaf blade faces the stem of the plant

  Leaf blade shape

  the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  the upper side of the leaf blade is relatively uniform in color

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip

  Leaf blade width

  3–15 mm

  Leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Leaflet number

  0

  Stipule twining

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on this plant

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • cliffs, balds, or ledges
  • ridges or ledges
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the leaves have no particular smell

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem is held upright

  Flowering stem leaves

  • there are no true leaves on the flowering stem
  • there is at least one fully-formed leaf on the flowering stem

  Stem hairs

  the stem is nearly or completely hairless

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae