keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

664 HYACINTHACEAE/CAMASSIA
REFERENCES: Dahlgren et al. 1985; Speta 1998b; Pfosser & Speta 1999; Stedje 2001.
1. Tepals connate into a tube for ca. 1/2 or more of their length.
2. Perianth 6 mm or less long, blackish blue to sky blue, with teeth < 1/4 as long as tube, the
tube constricted at the mouth _______________________________________________________ Muscari
2. Perianth (10–)17–25 mm long, violet-blue to white, rosy, or rarely yellowish, with teeth nearly
as long as the tube, the tube not constricted at the mouth ______________________________ Hyacinthus
1. Tepals distinct, not forming a tube.
3. Tepals strikingly white inside, green with white margins outside, 14–22(–30) mm long; inflorescence
corymbose _________________________________________________________ Ornithogalum
3. Perianth variously colored, but not as above, 4.5–17 mm long; inflorescence a raceme.
4. Tepals yellow to white or greenish white, with green or red stripe on abaxial surface, 4.5–7
mm long; ovules 2 per locule ________________________________________________ Schoenolirion
4. Tepals light blue to blue-violet, lavender, or blue, rarely whitish, 5–17 mm long; ovules 1–12
per locule.
5. Tepals each 3- or 5-veined, 6–17 mm long; anthers bright yellow; native species widespread
in East TX ____________________________________________________________ Camassia
5. Tepals each 1-veined, 5–7 mm long; anthers greenish to bluish; introduced species known
in East TX only from Navarro and possibly Harrison cos. _________________________________ Scilla
CAMASSIA Lindl. WILD-HYACINTH
AA North American genus of 5–6 species (Ranker & Hogan 2002). The bulbs of some species
(e.g., C. quamash (Pursh) Greene—CAMAS or QUAMASH of Native Americans) were extensively
used as food by Native Americans in the nw U.S. (Kindscher 1987); some are cultivated as ornamentals.
Recent molecular evidence (e.g., Clary & Simpson 1995; Bogler & Simpson 1996; Fay &
Chase 1996; Pfosser & Speta 1999) suggests that Camassia (and presumably the related genus
Schoenolirion) may be more closely related to the Agavaceae than to other members of the
Hyacinthaceae and that it should possibly be put in the Agavaceae or placed in its own family.
However, until further work clarifies its phylogenetic position relative to other monocot families,
we are maintaining it in the Hyacinthaceae for practical reasons. Reveal and Pires (2002)
noted that recognition at the family level seems “premature given the available evidence.”
(From the Native American (Chinook or Shoshone) name for a bulb, quamash or camas; the use
of quamash was discussed by Meriwether Lewis in his journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition—Durant
1976; Ranker & Hogan 2002)
REFERENCES: Gould 1942; Steyermark 1961; Ranker & Schnabel 1986; Ranker & Hogan 2002.
Camassia scilloides (Raf.) Cory, (resembling the genus Scilla), WILD-HYACINTH, EASTERN CAMAS,
ATLANTIC CAMASSIA, CAMAS, CAMAS-LILY, MEADOW-HYACINTH, INDIGO-SQUILL, SIKO, PRAIRIE CA-
MAS. Bulbose perennial, without onion or garlic odor, the bulbs sometimes clustered; leaves 3–8,
crowded toward base of the unbranched stem, to 80 cm long and 5–20 mm wide, their bases
clasping and surrounded by a sheathing, somewhat papery bract; stem leaves reduced and
bract-like; inflorescence an elongating, erect, terminal raceme; flowers sweet-scented; perianth
radially symmetrical, spreading, the 6 segments free, 6–17 mm long, light blue to lavender to
rarely whitish, persistent after withering; anthers bright yellow; capsule 3-locular, with 2–5
seeds per locule. Open woods and prairies; East TX w to West Cross Timbers and e Edwards
Plateau; se Canada and e 1/2 of the U.S. w to KS, OK, and TX. Apr–Jun (individuals sometimes
segregated as C. angusta reported to flower about 2–3 weeks later than sympatric populations
of C. scilloides—Ranker & Hogan 2002). [C. angusta (Engelm. & A. Gray) Blank., Cyanotris
scilloides Raf., Schoenolirion texanum (Scheele) A. Gray—according to Sherman (1979) and
Ranker and Hogan (2002), this name was based on Ornithogalum texanum Scheele, representative
of Camassia scilloides (Raf.) Cory, not Schoenolirion] The bulb is edible and was an important
food source for Native Americans and early settlers; however, it resembles that of the