262 LUTHER BURBANK 



And as to garden vegetables, about the only 

 member of the clan that is cultivated for its flower 

 as well as for its edible product is the Pink Chive 

 that I have recently developed. 



There exists a tribe of plants, however, of 

 which we have hitherto made no mention, that 

 possesses qualities of flower bearing of a high 

 order, combined with the capacity to produce 

 roots of such quality of edibility as to suggest 

 competition with our best tuber bearers, including 

 the potato itself. 



These plants are certain wild members of the 

 lily family that have no colloquial name except 

 that given them by the Indians ; a name that has 

 been variously transcribed as Quamash and 

 Camass. From this name the botanist has devel- 

 oped the generic title Camassia. The not alto- 

 gether unappropriate name of wild hyacinth is 

 sometimes given the species that grows in the 

 western United States'. 



But it will be most convenient in speaking of 

 the tribe to adopt the generic name of Camassia, 

 in lieu of a better. 



The various species of camassia grow wild in 

 rich moist meadows and along small streams. All 

 the species are hardy. The leaves of the plant are 

 usually lance-shaped, about three-quarters of an 

 inch in width, and of length varying according to 



