Death Camas
There are 15 different species of Death Camas, all of which are located in North America. Most of these species survive in moist mountain valleys or sandy hills and plains. Death Camas might be a beautiful looking flower, but it is poisonous to sheep, cattle, pigs, and humans.
What makes this plant poisonous is the steroidal alkaloids, which have potent hypotensive activity commonly found in Veratrum, a false hellebore. The bulb and the mature leaves are the most toxic part of the plant itself.
The Death Camas is a hairless, perennials, with linear, grass-like, v-shaped, parallel-veined leaves arising basally from an onion-like bulb. The flower arrangement is a terminal raceme with numerous 6 petalled, small, white, cream to green flowers. The fruit is a 3 lobed capsule.
Some of the symptoms that may occur when you come into contact with this plant is excessive salivation, vomiting, muscular weakness, tremors, ataxia, and prostration. Ataxia is the loss of coordination of the muscles. Prostration is when you become physicaly weak and are unable to stand up.
Doctors do not have a specific treatment if you are infected with Death Camas and have any of the symptoms. The injection of 2 mg of atropine sulfate and 8 mg picrotoxin per 100 lbs body weight is reported to be effective in treating early poisoning of sheep.
Supportive therapy with intravenous fluids is helpful in combatting the hypotensive effects of the death camas. Bloated animals should be kept in a sternal position and a stomach tube passed to relieve rumen pressure.
When the plant has been eaten, mainly by sheep and other animals, the poison in the plant will cause the animal to convulse and even go into a coma, which will eventually lead to its death. There are no known cases that this plant has ever been consumed by humans or what effects it may have on humans.