Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Liliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amianthium muscitoxicum
FAMILY
Melanthiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
This is one of several species that grow in forests that contain a cluster of fairly long, strap-shaped basal, parallel-veined leaves. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amianthium muscitoxicum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Amianthium muscaetoxicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Amianthium muscitoxicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH The genera of Melanthiaceae in the southeastern United States (Zomlefer, 1997)
Zigadenus muscitoxicus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-21-001:
Amianthium muscaetoxicum FAMILY Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chrosperma muscaetoxicum
COMMON NAME:
Fly-poison
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_chmu5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm110417_081
April Cleburne County AL
Mount Cheaha
)
Wesley Burnett gwb070528_0671
May Laurens County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Terminal racemes can be conical or cylindrical, 1.25-4.5" tall, per Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm070528_122
May Laurens County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Leaves are linear and up to 3/4" wide, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm110510_347
May Abbeville County SC
Parson's Mountain Recreation Area
Stem terminated by a cone-shaped, 2-4", many-flowered inflorescence, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
COMPARE
Crow-poison and Fly-poison
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JK Marlow jkm110510_350
May Abbeville County SC
Parson's Mountain Recreation Area
Leaves are pleated lengthwise, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_324
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Basal lvs' main veins parallel, diverging at leaf base & rejoining at the apex, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm160504_427
May Jackson County NC
Panthertown
)
JK Marlow jkm230523_3364
May Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_muscaetoxicum_sf_3c
May
An erect perennial herb that grows to 3' tall, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_muscitoxicum_9672
June Henderson County NC
Pisgah National Forest
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_muscitoxicum_9701
June Henderson County NC
Pisgah National Forest
A terminal raceme [flowers maturing from the bottom upwards], per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Jerry Bright jeb_flypoison
July Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
Jerry Bright jeb_mg_0585
July Haywood County? NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm090709_191
July Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4404
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4405
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230713_4408
July Greenville County SC
Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve
Leaves mostly basal, stem leaves rapidly reduced upward, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm080802_060c
August Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
The perianth turns green after pollination and remains so for some time, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Steve Marlow snm140816_050
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
Steve Marlow snm140816_051
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
Capsules deeply 3-lobed, thin-walled, dehiscence septicidal then loculicidal, per Flora of North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Amianthium muscitoxicum
FAMILY
Melanthiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Amianthium muscitoxicum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Amianthium muscaetoxicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Amianthium muscitoxicum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The genera of Melanthiaceae in the southeastern United States (Zomlefer, 1997)
Zigadenus muscitoxicus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 041-21-001:
Amianthium muscaetoxicum
FAMILY
Liliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Chrosperma muscaetoxicum
71
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: In a wide variety of mesic to dry forests, pine savannas, longleaf pine sandhills, meadows, from 5m to at least 1600m in elevation, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly basal
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
6 persistent tepals
6 stamens
Ovary superior to partly inferior
Bisexual, or both bisexual & unisexual on the same or different plants
Inflorescence a raceme
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p142
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p139
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p090
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p367
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p194
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p334
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p159
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p429
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p163
- Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: Northeastern US (Clemants & Gracie, 2006) p370
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p032
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p392
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p354
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p410
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p331
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p013
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