Camassia

[Ed Alverson]

Camassia is a genus of North American bulbous plants that I haven't seen mentioned that much on the SRGC forum.  There are 6 species, but the most widely distributed species, Camassia quamash, has eight subspecies.  Interestingly, DNA evidence has shown that Camassias are not lilies but are actually members of the Agave family.  But we still call them camas lilies.

Camassias are at their peak bloom around here right now, so I'll post a few photos.  In a good year, certain prairies and pastures are a sea of blue from Camassia quamash.  They seem to be easily grown from seed but ironically they don't do well when growing with lush grasses, so trying to grow them in a "meadow" garden is tricky - usually you find them in places where the grass growth is more sparse or thatch is reduced by mowing or burning.  If you look closely you can see that the area in the habitat view was mowed last fall.  They often grow in clay soils that are very wet in the winter but very dry in the summer, which is true of this particular site.

[David Nicholson]

Ed, oddly they seem to be quite popular in the UK at present. Some of the "good" bulb suppliers stock them and I have been to a couple of nurseries lately who were retailing pot grown varieties. They are on my list of "wants" for next year.

[Ed Alverson]

The second species we have in the Willamette Valley (as well as northward to British Columbia) is Camassia leichtlinii.  Ssp. suksdorfii is the widespread purple or blue flowered form, the cream-flowered ssp. leichtlinii has a very local natural distribution in Douglas County Oregon.  Camassia leichtlinii is distinguished (at least in our area) by flowers that are radially symmetrical, and by tepals that twist together over the overy after anthesis, rather than withering separately.  Camassia leichtlinii is usually taller in stature than C. quamash.  C. leichtlinii ssp  suksdorfii is very variable, and some forms have better garden value than others.  For example, some foms only have many flower buds  but only a few flowers open at one time, which reduces the visual effect.  Here is a photo of a relatively dwarf plant (about 1 ft. tall at this stage) which might be better than the usual tall form for rock gardens, that is, if the dwarfing is genetic (I haven't yet tried growing this form from seed).  It may just be an ecologically induced dwarfing because it is growing an an area of shallow rocky soils that become very dry in the summer.

Just to confuse the issue, C. leichtlinii and C. quamash will hybridize where they grow together, so if you grow these plants from wild collected seed you may end up with a few hybrid plants.  I find I can identify them by the slightly bilaterally symmetrical flowers, along with tepals that are more or less parallel as they wither but not twisting over the ovary.

[Paddy Tobin]

Ed,

The camassias are quite popular here in Ireland and grow very easily and well here.

Below are three photographs of one clump in  my garden taken last month, though the camassias are still in flower.

Camassia leichtlinii

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

I have Camassia leichtlinii out at the moment and it is bulking up so fast that the clump of C. leichtlinii alba, supposedly next to it, is now overlapped by it. The latter is still a week or so off flowering.

[Ed Alverson]

I am curious whether those of you who have sizable clumps of Camassia leichtlinii can say whether they are increasing via offsets or by seed.  In the wild, at least, C. cusickii is the only species that normally produces offsets (at least, that is what the reference books say).  C. leichtlinii and C. quamash increase by seed if the conditions are favorable but not by offsets.  If they are increasing by offsets, perhaps the plants sold as C. leichtlinii have some C. cusickii blood in them?  Or alternatively they could be a selected form of C. leichtlinii that has been established in the bulb trade specifically because of its ability to increase vegetatively?

[Anthony Darby]

Definitely offsets, as I remove the heads before they set seed.
Anthony.

[Paddy Tobin]

Ed,

Again, as with Anthony, mine increase by offsets. And likewise my clumps of C. l. alba are behind the species but are in flowers now.

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

I think I will let my clumps continue to merge as the effect of blue flowers followed by white is quite nice.

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

Will you go and do a bit of work and not be spending all your time on this forum.

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Kids on exams so no teaching classes today as 4th - 6th year are on study leave.

[Paddy Tobin]

I'm sitting in school all on my own having my lunch.  Everybody else has gone to the swimming pool.

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Our lunch time is 12.55 - 1.55. Three pupils have turned up to give me grief - er, I mean go over some work.

[Maggi Young]

A neighbour about half a mile north of here had good colonies of Camassias in her garden which may have been from commercial hybrid stock. Thinking they did so well so close by, I tried some... they exist, they do not thrive! I live in hope of them gaining strength.

I saw yesterday that this friend's house ( she moved away some time ago) is up for sale.... remembering the Camassias, super old Daphne cneorum and other lovely plants she had, I searched out the details.....oh dear, very little of her charming garden remains, the bulb beds are grassed over......it is not only wild habitats that are at risk!

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

As is regularly said here: Teaching would be a great job except for the children.

Below, a photograph of a white-flowered camassia.

Paddy