''Amianthium'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n genus of

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s growing from

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short 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 branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

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

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s and its toxic

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

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 class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

present in the roots and leaves include

jervine Jervine is a steroidal alkaloid with molecular formula C27H39NO3 which is derived from the plant genus ''Veratrum''. Similar to cyclopamine, which also occurs in the genus ''Veratrum'', it is a teratogen implicated in birth defects when consumed ...

and amianthine. ''Amianthium'' is

self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

and is pollinated mostly by beetles. It is native to eastern

, as far north as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, west roughly to the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

(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, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

), and south to northern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and eastern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

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

Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family of flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to the ...

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

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

. 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 ''Stenanthium densum'' is a poisonous but spectacular monocot wildflower native to pine barrens of the eastern United States. It is known variously as Osceola's plume, crowpoison, or black snakeroot. '' Stenanthium leimanthoides'' is either treat ...

'' * ''Amianthium aspericaule'' now called ''

Triantha glutinosa ''Triantha glutinosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the Tofieldiaceae family. It is commonly known as the sticky false asphodel, sticky tofieldia or northern bog asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the tofieldia family. It is nat ...

'' * ''Amianthium leimanthoides'' now called ''

'' * ''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 ''

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