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Camassia quamash

common camas

Photo is of parent taxon

Utah camas

Habit Plants diurnal; 10–80 cm tall; bulbs solitary. Plants 25–70 cm tall.
Leaves

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

20–50 cm × 15–30 mm, glaucous adaxially.

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.

sterile bracts 0–2.

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 distinctly bilateral;

tepals pale blue or blueviolet, 15–35 × 3–6 mm, withering connivently but later splitting below fruit;

veins 3(5);

anthers light yellow to dark violet.

Fruits

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

erect on pedicels and positioned close to stem, 10–20 mm.

Seeds

5–10 per locule.

5–10 per locule.

Camassia quamash

Camassia quamash ssp. utahensis

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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).

Moist areas in montane meadows or along streams near forested areas, pasturelands. Flowering May–Jun. 1200–1300 m. BW, Owy. ID; east to MT and WY, southeast to UT. Native.

Although found in areas near C. cusickii, C. quamash ssp. utahensis differs in having fewer than ten basal leaves, connivent tepals at first withering, and solitary bulbs. Once flowers wither, the tepals separate, and appressed fruits of both taxa are similar, making identification more difficult.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 156
Susan Kephart
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 157
Susan Kephart
Sibling taxa
C. cusickii, C. howellii, C. leichtlinii
C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. intermedia, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash, C. quamash ssp. walpolei
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
Synonyms Camassia quamash var. utahensis
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