78 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 



Quamasia leichtlinii (Baker) Coville, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 11 :63. 



1897. 



Chlorogalum leichtlinii Baker, Gard. Chron. n. ser. 1:689. 1874. 

 Camassia esculenta leichtlinii Baker, Bot. Mag. t. 6287. 1877. ' 

 Camassia leichtlinii Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 20:376. 1885. 



In the original description of this plant Baker writes : " This is a plant 

 which has been widely spread in gardens both in England and on the 

 Continent under the name ' White Camassia,' " and further states, "Our 

 plants were received from the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, and I learn from 

 Mr. M'Nab that it was collected by Mr. John Jeffrey in British Columbia 

 in 1851." "I do not find it from Jeffrey or any other collector in the 

 Kew herbarium." "From Camassia it may be readily distinguished 

 by its firm, persistent leaves, large bracts, and the entirely different habit 

 of the inflorescence. It falls under Chlorogalum very well, but is not in 

 any danger of being confused with the two kinds already known, one of 

 which is the well-known Californian Soap Plant." Three years later 

 Baker referred the plant to Quamasia under the name Camassia esculenta 

 var. leichtlinii, and published therewith a handsome colored illustration. 

 He again repeats the information that " It was discovered by Mr. John 

 Jeffrey in British Columbia in 1853." "The present sketch was taken 

 from a plant which flowered on the rockery in Kew Gardens in May, 

 1873." 



In April, 1914, Mr. W. C. Cusick found growing in the Umpqua Valley 

 around Eoseburg, Oregon, a white-flowered Quamasia in abundance. 

 Fresh specimens as well as herbarium material from Mr. Cusick show 

 that this plant agrees exactly with the description and colored plate pub- 

 lished in the Botanical Magazine in 1877. Mr. Cusick writes further: 

 "An old pioneer told me it was a food plant of the Indians. The gophers 

 gathered the bulbs in caches, and the Indian women would go around 

 with their camas diggers and thrust the elkhorn point into any favorable 

 looking ground, and then get down to the hole and smell ; if the camas 

 bulbs were there she got them out. This was all spoiled by the settlers' 

 pigs which soon caught on to the smelling business and so put the Indian 

 women quite out." 



Inasmuch as no white-flowered Quamasia has ever been recorded from 

 British Columbia, it is a matter of interest to know whence Jeffrey origin- 

 ally secured the plant which, according to Baker, was quite commonly 

 cultivated in Europe in 1874. Jeffrey collected plants at various places 

 on the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to southern California. Prac- 

 tically the whole knowledge of his activities is that contained in the 

 report entitled "Botanical Expedition to Oregon." In this report are 

 given lists of the various seeds and bulbs sent by Jeffrey at different times, 

 and in many cases revised identifications of the plants are given. From 

 these lists it does not appear that any species of Quamasia was collected 

 by Jeffrey in British Columbia or in northern Washington. In a list of 

 the specimens and seeds sent by Jeffrey in box No. 10 appears the follow- 

 ing note: "No. 1007, Camassia sp. Umpqua Valley, flowers white, six 



