646 LILIACEJE CAMASSIA 



rhizome : tube of the perianth 1-3 inches long ; segments 6-9 lines long : 

 anthers 2-3 lines long: capsule somewhat wrinkled, truncate above 3-4 

 lines long : seeds 4-6 in each cell. In mountain valleys, eastern Oregon to 

 California, Nebraska and Dakota. 



5 CAMASSIA Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1486. (1832.) 



Perennial herbs with scapose stems from tunicated bulbs, flat 

 leaves and rather large blue to white flowers in simple bracted 

 racemes on jointed pedicels. Perianth of 6 distinct 3-7-nerved 

 persistent segments. Stamens 6, inserted on the base of the peri- 

 anth, shorter than its segments: filaments filiform-subulate: an- 

 thers introrse, versatile. Ovary sessile, with several ovules in 

 each cell. Style filiform, slightly 3-lobed at the apex, the base 

 persistent. Capsule 3-lobed and angled, thick-membranaceous, 

 loculicidally 3-valved. Seeds several in each cell, often more or 

 less compressed or angled, with thin black testa. 



C. esculenta Lindl. 1. c. Scape rather stout, 1-2% feet high, from an 

 ovoid bulb %-l% inches indiametr: leaves 10-12 inches long, 3-8 lines 

 wide, usually attenuate above and nearly as long as the scape: bracts 

 subulate, 1-2 inches long, acuminate : pedicels shorter than the bracts : 

 perianth somewhat odlique, one of the outer segments turning downward, 

 all of the others upward, dark to light blue, the outer ones narrowly lan- 

 ceolate nearly an inch long, the inner ones broader and abruptly contracted 

 at base to a short claw riot twisted over the young capsule but loose at its 

 base, stamens nearly equalling the segments, with oblong anther 1-2 lines 

 long: ovules 16-18 in each'cell : capsule oblong obovate, somewhat narrow- 

 ed at base, rather obtusely angled, 6-12 lines long. Common in wet mead- 

 ows, Brit. Columbia to California and the Rocky mountains. 



C. Leichtlinii Watson Proc. Am. Acad. xx, 376. Scape rather slen- 

 der 1-2 feet high : leaves about a foot long, -1-6 lines wide, the edges involu- 

 te at the apex and thus apparently attenuate : bracts scarsous or colored, 

 or the lowest ones green, linear-lanceolate, often longer than the bracts : 

 perianth regular or nearly so, dark blue : the segments rather broadly lan- 

 ceolate, an inch or more long, but little longer than the stamens, connivent 

 over the young capsule and at length deciduous together: capsule oblong- 

 obovate, slightly em arginate at the apex, usually 8-10 lines long and shorter 

 than the pedicels : seeds odovate, dull. In wet meadows in the Cascade 

 Mountains Oregon and Washington. 



C. ' Cusickii Watson 1. c. xxii, 479. Bulbs clustered (1-12), large, 1-2 

 inches thick or more, and bearing 8- 20 large glaucous leaves 12-18 inches 

 long, 6-18 lines wide : stem 2-3 feet high : pedicels 6-12 lines long or more : 

 flowers large, pale blue, the narrow segments 3-5-nerved, persistently 

 spreading; capsule oblong, abruptly acute, transversely veined, 6-8 lines 

 long: seeds odovate, shining. On slopes of the Eagle Creek Mountains, 

 eastern Oregon. 



C. azurea Heller Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, xxvi, 547, under Quamasia. 

 Kcape 14-16 inches high from a deep seated bulb, glabrous, sparingly leafy 

 below : leaves about % the length of the scape below the inflorescence, 2-3 

 lines wide, somewhat glaucous beneath : pedicels slender, 10-12 lines 

 long: bracts about as long as the pedicels, bluish or straw-color, chaffy, 

 lanceolate, tapering into a long slender acumination, prominently veined : 

 perianth bright blue, about an inch long the pegments persistent, about 2 

 lines wide, 5-nerved : capsule about % inches high, 3 angled : seeds shining 

 black. On grassy plains near Montesano Washington 



