''Amianthium'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n genus of

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s growing from

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

s. It contains the single known species ''Amianthium muscitoxicum'', known in English as fly poison from a literal translation of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

''muscitoxicum'', and is noted for its pretty

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s and its toxic

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

content. While all parts of the plant are poisonous, the bulb is particularly toxic. The scientific

was given to it by Thomas Walter when he published his ''Flora Caroliniana'' in 1788. The bulb was mixed with sugar by American colonists to kill flies. The toxic

alkaloids Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms i ...

present in the roots and leaves include jervine and amianthine. ''Amianthium'' is self-incompatible and is pollinated mostly by beetles. It is native to eastern

, as far north as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, west roughly to the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

(with an additional area in

the Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

), and south to northern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and eastern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

.Biota of North American Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> Within the family

Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plant, flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered member ...

, ''Amianthium'' is a member of the tribe

Melanthieae Melanthieae is a tribe of flowering plants within the family Melanthiaceae. Molecular phylogenetics, Molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century have resulted in a large-scale reassignment of many of its species to different genera; in par ...

. Molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century have resulted in some changes to placements within this tribe. ''A. muscitoxicum'' has sometimes been placed in the genus ''

Zigadenus ''Zigadenus'' is a genus of flowering plants now containing only one species, ''Zigadenus glaberrimus'', the sandbog death camas, found in the southeastern United States from Mississippi to Virginia. Around 20 species were formerly included in th ...

'' (as ''Z. muscitoxicus''); however its position as a separate genus is consistent with currently available information. (See also Phylogeny of Melanthieae.) ''Amianthium'' species which have been placed in other genera include: (search on ''Amianthium'') * ''Amianthium angustifolium'' now called '' Stenanthium densum'' * ''Amianthium aspericaule'' now called '' Triantha glutinosa'' * ''Amianthium leimanthoides'' now called '' Stenanthium densum'' * ''Amianthium nuttallii'' now called ''

Toxicoscordion nuttallii ''Toxicoscordion nuttallii'' (Nuttall's death camas, death camas, poison camas, poison sego) is a species of poisonous plant native to the south-central part of the United States (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, ...

'' * ''Amianthium texanum'' now called '' Stenanthium densum''

References

*Nash, L., & Steven, J. C. (2019). Patterns of resource allocation in fly poison (Amianthium muscaetoxicum). ''Bios'', ''89''(3), 113–117.

Citations

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q16868575, from2=Q657307 Melanthiaceae Flora of the Eastern United States Melanthiaceae genera Monotypic Liliales genera Taxa named by Asa Gray