Toxicoscordion fontanum, common name small-flower death camas, is a rare plant species known only from serpentine marshes in California.

[10][11] It is not unusual to find species that specialize in growing on serpentine soil.

Metamorphic rocks such as serpentinite are formed well below the earth's surface then carried upward by geologic activity.

Soils made from such rocks tend to be low in nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus but high in nickel and chromium.

Such conditions are toxic to most plants, but some species such as T. fontanum have evolved with adaptations allowing them to tolerate serpentine soils.