Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Liliales > Melanthiaceae > Amianthium > Amianthium muscitoxicum

Amianthium muscitoxicum (flypoison)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Amianthium is a North American genus of perennial plants growing from bulbs. It contains the single known species Amianthium muscitoxicum, known in English as fly poison from a literal translation of the Latin epithet muscitoxicum, and is noted for its pretty flowers and its toxic alkaloid content. While all parts of the plant are poisonous, the bulb is particularly toxic. The scientific epithet 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.
View Wikipedia Record: Amianthium muscitoxicum

Attributes

Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Structure [1]  Herb

Protected Areas

Habitat Vegetation Classification

Name Location  Website 
Georgia Outer Coastal Plain Subxeric Longleaf Pine Woodland United States (Georgia)

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0