Because its nectar is also poisonous, it is mainly pollinated by the death camas miner bee, which specializes in collecting the toxic pollen for its young.

It is native to western North America from New Mexico to Saskatchewan and west to the Pacific Ocean.

Toxicoscordion venenosum is a bulb plant 20–70 centimeters tall when flowering in the spring or early summer.

[2] Most sources in the 20th century continued to classify it in Zigadenus, however genetic research published in 2002 resurrected the genus Toxicoscordion.

[18] This variety is differentiated by more often having branches on it flowering stems and the outer tepals being less curved (clawed) than in var.

It is found in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, Canada, and the northern plains, much more widely spread than the other variety.

[12] It it found on the west coast of North America from British Columbia to Baja California in Mexico.

[8] In English it is often simply called "death camas",[20] a name also applied to other species in the genus.

[23] The "camas" part of its name is due the resemblance of the bulbs to those of the edible Camassia flowers.

[25] In the Northern Pomo language all members of the genus including this species are called "tsim’bu" meaning "harmful bulb".

Other possible gastric symptoms include thirst, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

[35] In experiments with sheep it was among the most poisonous of members of its genus with just 0.4% of green material by body weight causing symptoms, close to the 0.2% of Toxicoscordion nuttallii.

The plants tend to have higher levels of poison in dry locations and in years with less rainfall.

The variety venenosum grows in grasslands and open pine woodlands of the interior from 500 to 1300 meters.

[12] The variety gramineum grows in well drained grasslands and coastal areas from sea level to as much as 2500 meters.

[11] They prefer wet areas, but can grow in much drier habitats than common camas (Camassia quamash) such as on hillsides in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The death camas mining bee specializes in meadow deathcamas and the closely related Toxicoscordion paniculatum.

[1] Though well aware of the poisonous nature of the plants, the indigenous Paiute people have made use of crushed bulbs as poultices for a range of ailments in an identical manner to Toxicoscordion paniculatum, which they called by the same name.

[41] The naturalist Ira Noel Gabrielson dismissed it and all of its relatives except for Toxicoscordion fremontii as not having "charm enough to take up room in a garden when so many more beautiful things are available.

"[42] Despite this, the species is occasionally grown in wildflower meadows or perennial borders for its spring flowers in either full sun or partial shade.

[43] Due to the toxic nature of it and all its relatives, caution is urged to avoid planting it where herbivores would have access.

In the Manual of Bulbs from the Royal Horticultural Society it is listed as tolerating winter temperatures at least as cold as −15 °C (5 °F).