Camassia quamash |
Camassia quamash ssp. utahensis |
|
---|---|---|
common camas |
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 | ||
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 | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Camassia quamash var. utahensis | |
Web links |