ON THE CAMASSIA 



grows almost altogether in crevasses of rocks, but 

 it produces very attractive large, deep purple flow- 

 ers, with wide petals. First the attempt was made 

 to improve the flower, and I introduced a good 

 many years ago a modified variety of the species 

 that was somewhat dwarfed as to leaf and stem 

 but in which the flowers had been much enlarged, 

 the petals broadened, and the color changed to a 

 dark blue. 



As my experiments continued, however, my 

 interest in the camassia increased, and I began to 

 give attention to the bulb of the plant as well as 

 to the flower. 



I began working with another species, the 

 Camassia Cusickii, which has relatively large 

 bulbs; and with another of the well-known nature 

 species, Camassia esculenta, the bulbs of which 

 are much smaller but of recognized edible quality. 



Most of my work in hybridizing and selective 

 breeding has been done with the three species just 

 named, but I have also raised somewhat exten- 

 sively two other species, known as C. Howellii and 

 C. Fraseri, as well as a great number of wild varie- 

 ties of all the different species from British Amer- 

 ica, Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada. 



From the outset individual plants were selected 

 of each species and variety that were the best 1 

 could obtain. Here, as so often elsewhere, I was 



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