Burke: Camassia quamash vs. Camassia leichtlinii

	Camassia quamash	Camassia leichtlinii
	common camas	great camas
Habit	Scapose perennial from a deep-seated bulb, the scape 2-7 dm. tall.	Scapose perennial from a deep-seated bulb, the scape 3-5 dm. tall.
Leaves	Leaves several, all basal, 8-20 mm. broad, considerably shorter than the scape.	Leaves several, all basal, up to 6 dm. long and mostly 7-20 mm. broad.
Flowers	Inflorescence a raceme, many-flowered, 5-30 cm. long; pedicels 10-20 mm. long, spreading, arched or ascending in flower, incurved-erect in fruit; flowers pale to deep blue or violet, somewhat irregular; tepals 6, distinct, 15-35 mm. long and 2-8 mm. broad, narrowed at base, lowest segment curved outward and downward away from the others, all withering separately and exposing the ovary; stamens 6, anthers yellow or blue, style slender, stigmas 3.	Inflorescence a raceme, 1-2 dm. long at flowering, longer in fruit; pedicels 10-40 mm. long, ascending in fruit; flowers light to deep blue-violet; tepals 6, distinct, alike, 2.5-3.5 cm. long and 5-10 mm. broad, twisting above the ovary and covering it; stamens 6, style slender, stigmas 3.
Fruit	Capsule ovoid, 3-celled, 1-2.5 cm. long.	Capsule 3-celled, 15-25 mm. long

	Camassia quamash	Camassia leichtlinii
Flowering time	April-June	April-May
Habitat	Open, moist areas, often where dry by late spring, from lowlands to mid-elevations in the mountains.	Meadows, prairies, balds, and hillsides where moist, at least in spring.
Distribution	Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana and Utah. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. cusickii, C. leichtlinii	C. cusickii, C. quamash
Subordinate taxa	C. quamash ssp. azurea, C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash	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 quamash

Camassia leichtlinii

common camas

great camas

Habit

Scapose perennial from a deep-seated bulb, the scape 2-7 dm. tall.

Scapose perennial from a deep-seated bulb, the scape 3-5 dm. tall.

Leaves

Leaves several, all basal, 8-20 mm. broad, considerably shorter than the scape.

Leaves several, all basal, up to 6 dm. long and mostly 7-20 mm. broad.

Flowers

Inflorescence a raceme, many-flowered, 5-30 cm. long;

pedicels 10-20 mm. long, spreading, arched or ascending in flower, incurved-erect in fruit;

flowers pale to deep blue or violet, somewhat irregular;

tepals 6, distinct, 15-35 mm. long and 2-8 mm. broad, narrowed at base, lowest segment curved outward and downward away from the others, all withering separately and exposing the ovary;

stamens 6, anthers yellow or blue, style slender, stigmas 3.

Inflorescence a raceme, 1-2 dm. long at flowering, longer in fruit;

pedicels 10-40 mm. long, ascending in fruit;

flowers light to deep blue-violet;

tepals 6, distinct, alike, 2.5-3.5 cm. long and 5-10 mm. broad, twisting above the ovary and covering it;

stamens 6, style slender, stigmas 3.

Fruit

Capsule ovoid, 3-celled, 1-2.5 cm. long.

Capsule 3-celled, 15-25 mm. long