Crow-poison

Nothoscordum bivalve, commonly called crow poison or false garlic, is a small perennial bulbous herb in the Amaryllidaceae family native to the south-eastern and central United States (Texas to Florida north to Nebraska and Ohio), with disjunct populations south through Mexico and parts of South America to Chile. From a small white tunicated bulb about 1 centimetre wide it produces a tuft of two to several narrow, grass-like, glabrous basal leaves and one or two slender, erect, leafless flowering scapes up to 40 centimetres tall. In spring (April to May across most of the range) each scape bears a terminal umbel of three to twelve small star-shaped flowers, each about 1 centimetre across, with six white tepals striped pale yellow or greenish at the base. Unlike true alliums the foliage lacks any onion or garlic odour when crushed. Three-lobed capsules follow, releasing black seeds. The species inhabits open woodland, prairies, lawns, roadsides and disturbed mesic ground.