Melanthiaceae

Toxicoscordion fremontii, or star lily

Toxicoscordion fremontii

Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 6, 2018

Over eighty percent of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park burned in October of last year. Perhaps the opportunity to see post-fire wildflowers in the stark landscape is what enticed today’s photographer, Sandy Steinman, to visit the area in early April.

Read More | 1 Comment

The inflorescence of Veratrum californicum

Veratrum californicum

Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 18, 2017

Unlike the species in yesterday’s entry, there is ample documentation about the toxicity and danger of species of Veratrum.

Read More | 4 Comments

Anticlea elegans in habitat

Anticlea elegans

Published by Daniel Mosquin on August 6, 2013

Today’s photographs are of Anticlea elegans (syn. Zigadenus elegans), or the mountain death camas.

Read More | 3 Comments

Inflorescence of Toxicoscordion venenosum

Toxicoscordion venenosum

Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 30, 2012

This photo of Toxicoscordion venenosum (syn. Zigadenus venenosus) was taken at the Mt. Zhuhalem Ecological Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Toxicoscordion venenosum is native to many parts of western North America (distribution map).This highly toxic species is commonly known as meadow death-camas, and it is a member of the Melanthiaceae (not to be confused […]

Read More | 16 Comments

Flowers of Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum

Veratrum viride var. eschscholzianum

Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 30, 2005

Green false hellebore is highly poisonous according to the authors of Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Read More | 1 Comment

The flower of Paris polyphylla with its thread-like petals

Paris polyphylla

Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 5, 2005

Secrets are inevitable in a woodland garden as large as the David C. Lam Asian Garden: hidden paths; subtle jokes with design and placement of plants; and, of course, secret plants. Sometimes, plants are initially kept secret because of “security by obscurity”, since plant theft is an ongoing issue. When the plants are of a […]

Read More | 9 Comments

Trillium grandiflorum in bloom en masse

Trillium grandiflorum

Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 1, 2005

One of the reasons for greater plant diversity in the deciduous hardwood forests of eastern North America compared to the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest is light penetration to the forest floor. If you’ve hiked some of the old growth or second growth coniferous forests in British Columbia, you’ll know that there can be […]

Read More | No Comments

Botany Photo of the Day: In science, beauty. In beauty, science. Daily.

Subscribe!

We'll email you as new entries are posted!

Submitting a Photo

We currently accept photos submitted through a Flickr group, our garden forums, or email. Please see The Photographs for more details.

Forays

Some of our favourite sites!

On This Day