OregonFlora: Camassia quamash vs. Camassia leichtlinii

	Camassia quamash	Camassia leichtlinii
	common camas	great camas, Leichtlin's camas
Habit	Plants diurnal; 10–80 cm tall; bulbs solitary.	Plants diurnal or rarely vespertine; 20–130 cm tall; bulbs usually solitary.
Leaves	3–5, lanceolate to linear, 25–70 cm × 5–15 mm.	4–8(9), lanceolate, 20–70 cm × 5–30 mm.
Inflorescences	nodes 3–45, with 2–5 or more flowers open at once, sterile bracts 0–2; most longer than pedicels, tan to blue; pedicel-stem angle broad or less often narrow.	6–60-flowered, often only 1–4 flowers open at a time, sterile bracts 0–3(5); most equal or shorter than pedicels, tan to pale green; pedicels spreading, forming broad angle with stem.
Flowers	corollas bilateral, rarely radial; tepals 10–35 × 3–5 mm, pale blue to deep blue-violet, initially withering individually or connivently but separating in fruit and persisting on stem; veins 3–9.	corollas radially symmetric; tepals 2–4 cm × 4–12 mm, blue to deep blue-purple or creamy white, withering connivently and twisting off top of fruit or deciduous from pedicels that remain on stem; veins 5–9.
Fruits	oriented away from or appressed to stem; ovoid-oblong, 15–25 mm.	oblong-ovoid, 1–3 cm × 5–15 mm; dull.
Seeds	5–10 per locule.	6–12 per locule.

	Camassia quamash	Camassia leichtlinii
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Western North America. 8 subspecies; 6 subspecies treated in Flora. Camassia quamash includes a confusing array of morphologically and geographically diverse subspecies. Differentiating them remains challenging, yet genetic data have revealed a detectable molecular signature between groups that grow “east” (breviflora, quamash, utahensis) and “west” of the Cascades (intermedia, maxima, walpolei). Taxa within these groups are still unresolved (Fishbein et al. 2010).	Western North America. 2 subspecies. Subspecies suksdorfii is the most broadly distributed of the two C. leichtlinii taxa. In Douglas County, it occurs near C. l. ssp. leichtlinii but usually in separate populations. These subspecies are potentially interfertile based on a historically known site near Roseburg where a creamy-white form dominated, yet plants showed the full color range. Further population-level study is needed. The tall racemes, strictly radial symmetry, and connivently twisted, deciduous tepals distinguish C. leichtlinii from all subspecies of C. quamash. Plants in populations of C. cusickii, C. quamash ssp. breviflora, and ssp. walpolei can produce radial, near radial, or slightly bilateral flowers, but these taxa have three tepal veins in contrast to five to nine in C. leichtlinii. In Camassia, anthesis length varies, but flower buds usually open from mid-afternoon to dusk. Relative to C. quamash and C. cusickii, the mostly diurnal flowers of C. leichtlinii remain open for a shorter time, sometimes closing as early as late morning or early afternoon, leaving racemes with only buds above the withered flowers (Gould 1942).
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 156 Susan Kephart	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 155 Susan Kephart
Sibling taxa	C. cusickii, C. howellii, C. leichtlinii	C. cusickii, C. howellii, C. quamash
Subordinate taxa	C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. intermedia, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash, C. quamash ssp. utahensis, C. quamash ssp. walpolei	C. leichtlinii ssp. leichtlinii, C. leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Camassia leichtlinii

common camas

great camas, Leichtlin's camas

Habit

Plants diurnal; 10–80 cm tall; bulbs solitary.

Plants diurnal or rarely vespertine; 20–130 cm tall; bulbs usually solitary.

Leaves

3–5, lanceolate to linear, 25–70 cm × 5–15 mm.

4–8(9), lanceolate, 20–70 cm × 5–30 mm.

Inflorescences

nodes 3–45, with 2–5 or more flowers open at once, sterile bracts 0–2; most longer than pedicels, tan to blue;

pedicel-stem angle broad or less often narrow.

6–60-flowered, often only 1–4 flowers open at a time, sterile bracts 0–3(5); most equal or shorter than pedicels, tan to pale green;

pedicels spreading, forming broad angle with stem.

Flowers

corollas bilateral, rarely radial;

tepals 10–35 × 3–5 mm, pale blue to deep blue-violet, initially withering individually or connivently but separating in fruit and persisting on stem;

veins 3–9.

corollas radially symmetric;

tepals 2–4 cm × 4–12 mm, blue to deep blue-purple or creamy white, withering connivently and twisting off top of fruit or deciduous from pedicels that remain on stem;

veins 5–9.

Fruits

oriented away from or appressed to stem; ovoid-oblong, 15–25 mm.

oblong-ovoid, 1–3 cm × 5–15 mm; dull.

Seeds

5–10 per locule.

6–12 per locule.

Camassia leichtlinii

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Western North America. 8 subspecies; 6 subspecies treated in Flora.

Camassia quamash includes a confusing array of morphologically and geographically diverse subspecies. Differentiating them remains challenging, yet genetic data have revealed a detectable molecular signature between groups that grow “east” (breviflora, quamash, utahensis) and “west” of the Cascades (intermedia, maxima, walpolei). Taxa within these groups are still unresolved (Fishbein et al. 2010).

Western North America. 2 subspecies.

Subspecies suksdorfii is the most broadly distributed of the two C. leichtlinii taxa. In Douglas County, it occurs near C. l. ssp. leichtlinii but usually in separate populations. These subspecies are potentially interfertile based on a historically known site near Roseburg where a creamy-white form dominated, yet plants showed the full color range. Further population-level study is needed. The tall racemes, strictly radial symmetry, and connivently twisted, deciduous tepals distinguish C. leichtlinii from all subspecies of C. quamash. Plants in populations of C. cusickii, C. quamash ssp. breviflora, and ssp. walpolei can produce radial, near radial, or slightly bilateral flowers, but these taxa have three tepal veins in contrast to five to nine in C. leichtlinii. In Camassia, anthesis length varies, but flower buds usually open from mid-afternoon to dusk. Relative to C. quamash and C. cusickii, the mostly diurnal flowers of C. leichtlinii remain open for a shorter time, sometimes closing as early as late morning or early afternoon, leaving racemes with only buds above the withered flowers (Gould 1942).