Meadow Death Camas (Zigadenus venenosus), as the name suggests, is not a food source! Unlike the similarly named Common or Great Camas, this plant was actively weeded out of traditional camas bulb gathering areas by First Nations due to the inability to discern the bulbs from one another. All parts of the plant are very toxic and during a field trip in the Kootenays, staff members Torrey and Karen were treated to a camas talk by Dr. Brenda Beckwith, who showed all parts of the plant while wearing gloves and urged us not to actually touch the seeds that were passed around in a dish, lest we use that same hand to eat our sandwich and regret it! While humans may not find the plant palatable, it is visited by a specialist mining bee, Andrena astragali, which is the only known bee that can tolerate its toxins. Found in dry meadows and hillsides throughout Western Canada, you can see this beautiful and deadly species in the covenanted areas of the Sooke Hills in April through July.
