Burke: Camassia quamash vs. Camassia quamash ssp. azurea

	Camassia quamash	Camassia quamash ssp. azurea
	common camas	blue camas, prairie camas
Habit	Scapose perennial from a deep-seated bulb, the scape 2-7 dm. tall.
Leaves	Leaves several, all basal, 8-20 mm. broad, considerably shorter than the scape.
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.
Fruit	Capsule ovoid, 3-celled, 1-2.5 cm. long.

	Camassia quamash	Camassia quamash ssp. azurea
Flowering time	April-June	April-June
Habitat	Open, moist areas, often where dry by late spring, from lowlands to mid-elevations in the mountains.	Prairies and grassy clearings at low elevations.
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]	Endemic to the lowlands west of the Cascades crest in Washington, including the Puget Trough from Pierce County, Washington, to Grays Harbor County, and on both sides of the Olympic Mountains. [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. cusickii, C. leichtlinii	C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash
Subordinate taxa	C. quamash ssp. azurea, C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash
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: WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria 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 quamash ssp. azurea

common camas

blue camas, prairie camas

Habit

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

Leaves

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

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.

Fruit

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

Camassia quamash

Camassia quamash ssp. azurea

Flowering time

April-June

Habitat

Open, moist areas, often where dry by late spring, from lowlands to mid-elevations in the mountains.

Prairies and grassy clearings at low elevations.

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]

Endemic to the lowlands west of the Cascades crest in Washington, including the Puget Trough from Pierce County, Washington, to Grays Harbor County, and on both sides of the Olympic Mountains.

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

C. cusickii, C. leichtlinii

C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash

Subordinate taxa

C. quamash ssp. azurea, C. quamash ssp. breviflora, C. quamash ssp. maxima, C. quamash ssp. quamash

Web links