Bernice Bjornson had this this to say about death camas in 1946:  “Death camas is well named. . . .  It is very poisonous and has caused the death of more than one kind of animal which has grazed upon it.  It is especially fatal to sheep.  Young children should be guarded against eating the bulb.  Older children should be taught to recognize it so that no mistakes may be made.”  She furthermore notes that “The stem bearing the white or creamy flowers is leafy (not true of the edible camas); its bulbs, however, are black coated as are the bulbs of the camas.”

The toxicity of the plant if eaten should not detract from hands-off admiration of the simple beauty of its spires of cream-colored flowers, especially since Foothills Death-Camas is one of the native species still holding its own in parts of the Boise Front that are now dominated by non-native grasses.  Toxicodendron paniculatum (formerly included in a more broadly circumscribed Zigadenus) is the more common of our two locally occurring species.  It is most easily recognized by the presence of clusters of small flowers on short branches at the base of the inflorescence, which are lacking in T. venenosum.  The clusters are comprised only of male flowers, so they do not develop fruit.