Toxicoscordion brevibracteatum

Desert death camas

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert death camas is a California native perennial found in the Tehachapi Mountains, western Transverse Ranges, and Mojave Desert in sandy desert habitats at elevations of 600 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces white to pale green flowers in an open panicle 10 to 35 centimeters long with distinctive spreading branches. Growing with tall, smooth stems 30 to 60 centimeters high emerging from a large ovoid bulb 10 to 40 millimeters in diameter, it has a dark brown to black outer bulb coating. Its leaves are long and narrow, reaching 10 to 30 centimeters in length and 3 to 10 millimeters wide, with rough, hair-fringed edges. The fruit is an oblong capsule 8 to 20 millimeters long, developing from flowers with perianth parts 5 to 8 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sandy desert

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 600-1800 m

Bioregions: Teh, WTR, DMoj.

California counties: San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Inyo, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.