Mountain Deathcamas

Anticlea elegans

Ecology & Conservation

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Ranked S3 (Vulnerable) in Quebec and S4 (Apparently Secure) in Ontario. Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. In Quebec, occurrences are scattered along the St. Lawrence and in Gaspesie; the species is more widespread in Ontario, especially on the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. National rank N5 (Secure) in Canada.
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Rarity Ranks: QC S3 – Vulnerable, ON S4 – Apparently Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: A bulb geophyte of calcareous mountain meadows, rocky slopes, and open forests. In Ontario, specimens concentrate on the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island on limestone substrates; Quebec occurrences are primarily in the St. Lawrence lowlands and Gaspesie. Grows in wet meadows, fens, alvars, and cedar swamps, often on calcareous soils.
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Category: Analgesic, Antirheumatic, Dermatological Aid, Diaphoretic, Strengthener, Veterinary Aid
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Notes: Multiple Indigenous uses documented by Moerman. Thompson people used pulverized baked root as a salve for pain in the back and feet. Western Keres used an infusion of eleven plants (including this species) as an athletic rubdown and in sweatbaths before deer hunts. Navajo Ramah used a cold infusion as a lotion for coyote bites. All medicinal uses are external; the plant is recognized as highly poisonous by all groups who employed it.
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❌ Not Edible

Foraging Notes: Not edible. All parts of this plant are highly poisonous due to steroidal alkaloids. Early settlers fatally confused the bulbs with those of edible camas species (Camassia).
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