158 LILIACE.E. Camassia. 



of the perianth an inch or two long ; segments 6 to 9 lines long : anthers 2 or 3 

 lines long : capsule somewhat wrinkled, truncate above, 3 or 4 lines long : seeds 4 

 to 6 in each cell. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. York, iv. 110; Kunth, Enum. iv. 151 ; 

 Watson, Bot. King Exp. 349, t. 36,' fig. 1 - 3. 



In low valleys from Northeastern California to Colorado ; near Yreka, in moist alkaline soil on 

 Shasta River (E. L. Greene) ; Lassen County (Mrs. R. M. Austin) ; in dry sandy soil near Carson 

 City and in Humboldt Valley, Anderson, Watson. Blooming in early spring, the pure white and 

 very fragrant flowers appearing j ust above the ground. 



9. CAMASSIA, Lindl. CAMASS. 



Perianth of 6 distinct oblanceolate 3 -7-nerved segments, somewhat spreading, 

 blue (or white), persistent. Stamens 6, on the base of the perianth, shorter than 

 the segments ; filaments filiform-subulate ; anthers linear-oblong, versatile. Ovary 

 sessile, ovate : ovules several in each cell : style filiform, slightly trifid at the apex, 

 the base persistent. Capsule subglobose or oblong-obovate, 3-lobed and angled, 

 thick-membranaceous, loculicidally 3-valved. Seeds several in each cell, ovate, often 

 more or less compressed or angled, with a thin black and shining wrinkled testa. 

 Scape slender, from a tunicated bulb ; flowers in a simple raceme, with narrow 

 scarious bracts ; pedicels jointed at the summit ; leaves linear. 



An American genus of only two species (the second in the Atlantic States), allied to Scilla of 

 the Old World, to which genus it has been referred. 



1. C. esculenta, Lindl. Scape stout, a foot or two high, from a bulb often an 

 inch in diameter : leaves usually shorter than the scape, carinate, 3 to 8 lines broad : 

 raceme loosely 10-20-flowered ; pedicels 3 to 12 lines long, mostly shorter than the 

 narrowly attenuate bracts : flowers from dark blue to nearly white, 7 to 15 lines long; 

 the segments 3-, 5- or 7-nerved : ovary oblong-obovate; ovules 16 to 18 in each 

 cell : style about equalling the perianth, the stamens usually a third or fourth shorter : 

 capsule oblong-obovate, somewhat attenuate at base, 6 to 12 lines long: seeds 1 

 lines long. Bot. Reg. xviii. t. 1486; Torr. Pacif. R. Rep. iv. 147; Lem. El. 

 Serres, t. 275. Phalangium Quamash, Pursh. Scilla esculenta, Hook. Bot. Mag. 

 t. 2774 (white var.). 



In meadows and marshes from Middle California (Punta de los Reyes, Bigelow ; Mariposa 

 County, Torrey, &c.) to Washington Territory ; also in the Wahsatch Mountains and northward. 

 The bulb is largely collected for food by the Indians. The eastern species (C. Fraseri, Torr.) has 

 smaller light-blue flowers, more slender pedicels, and a short acutely angled subglobose capsule. 



10. HESPEROCALLIS, Gray. 



Perianth regular, white, persistent, funnelform, 6-cleft, the narrowly spatulate 

 segments nearly equal, somewhat spreading, closely 5 - 7-nerved, twice longer than 

 the cylindrical tube. Stamens 6, on the throat ; filaments equal, shorter than the 

 segments, filiform ; anthers versatile, linear. Ovary sessile, oblong : ovules numer- 

 ous : style filiform, equalling the perianth, persistent ; stigma depressed-capitate. 

 Capsule subglobose, deeply 3-lobed, membranaceous, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds 

 horizontal, flattened, in 2 rows in each cell, with dull black thin testa. Stem 

 stout, somewhat leafy, from a tunicated bulb ; leaves linear ; flowers large, in a sim- 

 ple raceme, with conspicuous scarious bracts ; pedicels jointed at the summit. 

 Proc. Arner. Acad. vii. 390. A single species. 



1. H. uiidulata, Gray, 1. c. Bulb ovate : leaves somewhat fleshy, carinate with 

 more or less undulate margin, a foot long and 3 to 6 lines wide, the 2 or 3 cauline 

 ones shorter: stem a foot or two high. 5 - 8-flowered : bracts dilated, acuminate, 



