Deathcamas appears early in the spring, when leaves are highly toxic and there is little other forage. Well-fed animals will usually graze an infested range without injesting deathcamas. Plants may be pulled from wet ground when small areas are infested. If the ground is dry, the plant will break off at the stem, leaving the bulb to eventually develop new leaves. Deathcamas is a native, perennial, cool-season forb.
Leaves are grasslike, and usually shorter than the flower stalk.
Flowers are borne on a terminal panicle. Roots are short and sparse. Information concerning regeneration is sparse. The two varieties of deathcamas differ somewhat in their site requirements and are discussed separately. It occurs in a variety of sites including moist to wet meadows, dry rocky hillsides, and on flats.