Cusick's camas | |
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C. cusickii | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asparagaceae |
Subfamily: | Agavoideae |
Genus: | Camassia |
Species: | C. cusickii |
Binomial name | |
Camassia cusickii | |
Camassia cusickii, common name Cusick's camas or Cusick's quamash, is a species of plant in the family Asparagaceae (subfamily Agavoideae). It is native to parts of North America. C. cusickii originally appeared in horticultural journals in the late 1800s, but they have been sold and cultivated for about thirty years. [1]
The Camassia cusickii has linear leaves with parallel venation and flowers in parts of three. The flowers are usually ice blue or baby blue in color, although they can be various shades of blue, cream, and white. The flowers are slightly zygomorphic with the tepals withering separately after anthesis (baby blue in color). C. cusickii has yellow anthers and a fruiting pedicel incurving-erect or slightly spreading. The capsules are not deciduous, they are light brown in color, and have an ovoid or ellipsoid shape. [2] The flowers in the wild have a deeper, darker hue compared to their garden forms tending to be a lighter blue color. [3]
Although scattered from coast to coast, Camassia cusickii is more abundant in the northwestern states, specifically Oregon and Idaho. [4] It is commonly found in the Canadian Life Zone and prefers damp meadows. Stations have been located in the Eagle Creek Mountains, Powder River Mountains, and Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. C. cusickii is a federal 3c Bureau of Land Management Sensitive Species and 'Idaho Native Plant Society Sensitive Species'. [5] This species spreads over Eastern Oregon in a variety of the local climates, from Mount Hebo on the North Coast, to the isolated area of the Hell's Canyon overlook. [6] [7]
A native to North America, Camassia cusickii tolerates damp meadows at subalpine and alpine elevations (4,000–6,000 feet (1,200–1,800 m)) and tolerates pond edges, rich soils, and bloom well in either sun or shade. C. cusickii generally blooms in May. [8] Cusick's camas self-seed and germinate easily, as long as they find rich, moist, and well-drained soil. [9]
C. cusickii grows from a bulb and has long basal leaves with parallel venation. The flowers are in parts of threes and the petals, which are usually of a pale blue, are long and slim. The flowers appear as a raceme on top of a long (up to 30 inches (760 mm)) stem. There can be 100 flowers in a raceme. The bulb formed by C. cusickii has a bulb two or three times the size of the bulb in other species of this genus. [10] However, despite the bulb size it is not the tallest of the species (the tallest being Camassia leichtlinii). [11] The evolutionary path and species' variability within the genus Camassia have not been thoroughly studied, partly due to the fact that they have likely been influenced by "hybridization and geographic isolation" in North America. [12] It is thought that C. cusickii could be a recent mutant from C. quamash. [13]
This plant was not used as a food source for Native Americans. The large root of this relative of Camassia is pungent, slimy, and bitter tasting. [14] This bitter taste is due to steroidal saponins within the plant. [15] These saponins found in the bulbs of C. cusickii are being isolated and used in multiple studies helping to provide a point of reference for further studies on plant saponins. [16] [17] C. cusickii is commonly confused with its near sister relative the C. quamash, which Native Americans would harvest the roots to consume as raw vegetables, or they boiled them to create a "sweet, molasses-like treat." [18]
C. cusickii prefers fertile moist soil, but well drained humus rich soil that does not become over saturated with water. [19] The bulbs are usually planted 6 inches (150 mm) deep in late summer or early fall, but later planting can also be successful. In very cold areas, the soil should be mulched to protect the bulbs in late autumn. Camassias can be propagated by removing the offsets that have formed round the main bulbs and replanting them individually; do this in summer when they are dormant. [20] Sweet William and Peonies offer as good companions to the C. cusickii. They can be planted in flower beds, borders, rock gardens, and also be planted as cut flowers. This plant thrives among perennials. [21] C. cusickii can naturalize and serve as ground cover. [1] C. cusickii is generally resistant to deer and rodents. [22]
The botanical name is derived from Native American words for this plant, 'quamash,' even though this plant was only a sister plant to the actual plant that was eaten. [23] On the flower there is also a very attractive darker blue selection, 'Zwanenburg', which is named after the place in Haarlem, in the Netherlands, where the famous van Tubergen bulb nursery was based for many years. [20] The botanist Sereno Watson is credited with naming this plant, using specimens collected by William C Cusick 1in May and October, 1886, "on the slopes of the Eagle Creek Mountains" as Watson has it in the published description of the species. [24]
C. cusickii is sometimes confused with wild hyacinth, however, it is the close relative, Camassia scilloides, that is considered the wild hyacinth according to botanists. [25]
Hyacinthoides non-scripta is a bulbous perennial plant found in Atlantic areas from the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. In spring, H. non-scripta produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves.
Hyacinthus is a small genus of bulbous herbs, spring-blooming perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths. The genus is native predominantly to the Eastern Mediterranean region from the south of Turkey to the Palestine region, although naturalized more widely.
The common names soap plant, soaproot and amole refer to the genus Chlorogalum. They are native to western North America, with some species in Oregon but they are mostly found in California. Common names of the genus and several species derive from their use as soap.
Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to North America. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth.
Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, kwetlal, small camas, common camas, common camash or quamash, is a perennial herb. It is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States.
Hyacinthus orientalis, the common hyacinth, garden hyacinth or Dutch hyacinth, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southwestern Asia, southern and central Turkey, northwestern Syria, Lebanon and northern Palestine. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century. It is widely cultivated everywhere in the temperate world for its strongly fragrant flowers which appear exceptionally early in the season, and frequently forced to flower at Christmas time.
Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians are Indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, and the non-coastal regions of the Northwestern United States.
Toxicoscordion venenosum, with the common names death camas and meadow death camas, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is named for its well known toxic qualities, with both its common names and its scientific name referencing this. Because its nectar is also poisonous, it is mainly pollinated by the death camas miner bee, which specializes in collecting the toxic pollen for its young. It is native to western North America from New Mexico to Saskatchewan and west to the Pacific Ocean.
Indigenous ice cream, also known as sxusem, is a Canadian whipped confection made from soapberries and other various fruits; it has been eaten as a traditional dessert by many First Nations peoples. It has been suggested that it was first produced in the Interior Salish territory of British Columbia which was located in the upper basins of the Columbia and Fraser rivers, and included tribes such as the Columbia, Lillooet, and Shuswap among others.
Camassia scilloides is a perennial herb known commonly as Atlantic camas, wild hyacinth, and eastern camas. It is native to the eastern half of North America, including Ontario and the eastern United States.
Hackelia cusickii is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Cusick's stickseed.
Toxicoscordion paniculatum is a species of flowering plant known by the common names foothill deathcamas, panicled death-camas, and sand-corn. It is widely distributed across much of the western United States, especially in the mountains and deserts of the Great Basin region west of the Rocky Mountains. It grows in many types of habitats, including sagebrush plateau, grasslands, forests, and woodlands.
Sidalcea cusickii, or Cusick's checkerbloom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States.
Camassia howellii, commonly known as Howell's camas, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae endemic to western Oregon.
Puschkinia scilloides, commonly known as striped squill or Lebanon squill, is a bulbous perennial, native to Western Asia and the Caucasus.
Chaenactis cusickii is a North American species of flowering plants in the aster family known by the common name Morning brides or Cusick's pincushion. It has been found only in southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho.
Camassia leichtlinii, the great camas or large camas, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. This herbaceous perennial is native to western North America in British Columbia, Canada and California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, in the United States.
Camassia angusta, the prairie camas or prairie hyacinth, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the central US; Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and Indiana. A bulbous perennial reaching 75 cm (30 in), it blooms in April and May with white, blue, purple, or violet flowers.
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