Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Small Camas
Description
Genus Camassia
Herbs, perennial
, from bulbs. Bulbs solitary or clustered, tunicate
, ovoid
to globose
; tunic black or brown. Leaves basal, appearing whorled
; blade
linear
, keeled
. Inflorescences appearing terminal
, racemose, bracteate
; bracts sterile
or subtending
flowers, narrowly lanceolate. Flowers actinomorphic
or zygomorphic; tepals 6, persistent
, ± equal in 2 whorls of 3, distinct
, violet, blue, or white, each 3-9-veined, lanceolate, ± twisted in drying; stamens 6; filaments
inserted
on receptacles at base
of tepals, slender; anthers
versatile, dehiscence introrse
; ovary 3-locular, septal nectaries present, ovules 6-36; style filiform
; stigma 3-lobed; pedicel spreading
to incurving-erect in fruit. Fruits capsular
, ovoid to ellipsoid
or subglobose, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds 6-36, lustrous
black, obpyriform
to ovoid-ellipsoid, 2-4 mm.
x
= 15.
Species 6: North America.
Cmassia has been associated with other western North American genera of Liliaceae such as Schoenolirion, Hastingsia, and especially Chlorogalum (F. Speta 1998; M.
Pfosser and F. Speta 1999), but recent molecular evidence (D. J. Bogler and B
. B. Simpson 1996; M. F. Fay and M. W. Chase 1996) suggests that it may be related instead to the Agavaceae. Furthermore, the bimodal, 2n = 30 karyology
of Camassia (A. Fernandez and J. R. Davina 1991) is similar to that of Agavaceae (D. Satô 1935) and not that of Chlorogalum.
Camassia bulbs have been an important food staple for native
Americans, especially in the Pacific Northwest (G. R. Downing and L. S. Furniss 1968; N. J. Turner and H. V. Kuhnlein 1983), where bulbs were dug and traded on large encampment meadows. Similarity
to the poisonous bulbs of Zigadenus (€œdeath camas€) is a concern where ranges
of the two genera overlap. Several Camassia species are cultivated and represent a major horticultural contribution from the native flora.
Variation
and intergradation of C.
angusta and C. scilloides have been reviewed by T. A. Ranker and A. F. Schnabel (1986), as well as J. A. Steyermark (1961), R. O. Erickson (1941), and F. W. Gould (1942).[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Liliidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Lilianae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Asparagales
()
- Bromhead, 1838
- Suborder:
Asparagineae
()
-
- Family:
Asparagaceae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Tribe:
Chlorogaleae
()
- Genus:
Camassia
()
- Lindley, 1832, nom. cons.
-
Camas, quamash [Shoshone name camas or quamash]- Specific epithet:
quamash
- Gould
- Subspecies:
maxima
- Botanical name: - Camassia quamash subsp. maxima Gould
- Subspecies:
maxima
- Specific epithet:
quamash
- Gould
- Genus:
Camassia
(
- Tribe:
Chlorogaleae
(
- Family:
Asparagaceae
(
- Suborder:
Asparagineae
(
- Order:
Asparagales
(
- Superorder:
Lilianae
(
- Subclass:
Liliidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
. Latest taxonomic
scrutiny: Govaerts R.,
06-Jan-2005.
An accepted name in the RHS
Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Camassia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 27 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. angusta (Prairie Camas) · C. cusickii (Cusick's Camas) · C. cusickii 'Zwanenburg' (Cusick's Camas) · C. howellii (Howell Camassia) · C. leichtlinii (Camas) · C. leichtlinii 'Blue Danube' (Blue Danube Camassia) · C. leichtlinii leichtlinii (Large Camas) · C. leichtlinii suksdorfii (Camas) · C. leichtlinii 'Alba' (Camassia) · C. leichtlinii 'Caerulea' (Camassia) · C. leichtlinii 'Semiplena' (Camassia) · C. leichtlinii subsp. suksdorfii (Suksdorf's Large Camas) · C. quamash azurea (Camas Lily) · C. quamash intermedia (Small Camas) · C. quamash linearis (Small Camas) · C. quamash maxima (Small Camas) · C. quamash utahensis (Camas) · C. quamash walpolei (Walpole's Small Camas) · C. quamash subsp. azurea (Small Camas) · C. quamash 'Blue Melody' (Camas Lily) · C. quamash subsp. intermedia (Small Camas) · C. quamash subsp. linearis (Small Camas) · C. quamash subsp. maxima (Small Camas) · C. quamash subsp. utahensis (Utah Small Camas) · C. quamash subsp. walpolei (Walpole's Small Camas) · C. scilloides (Atlantic Camas) · C. walpolei (Walpole's Small Camas)
More Info
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Further Reading
- Gould, F. W. 1942. A systematic treatment of the genus Camassia Lindl. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 28: 712-742.
- Ranker, T. A. and A. F. Schnabel. 1986. Allozymic and morphological evidence for a progenitor-derivative species pair in Camassia (Liliaceae). Syst. Bot. 11: 433-445.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 16, 2012.
Identifiers
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 293926-2
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 3879623
Footnotes
- Tom A. Ranker & Tim Hogan "Camassia". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 20, 21, 58, 82, 303, 308. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
