Camass

Camassia

* photos taken on May 7 2014 @ London Town Gardens, Edgewater, MD

Camassia cusickii ( Cusick Camass )
Reaches up to 4 x 1.5 ( rarely over 3 ) feet, and is native to northeastern Oregon.
The foliage is gray-green. The bright blue flowers, up to 1.5 inches across, are borne during mid spring. A single flower spire may contain up to 300 flowers.
Hardy zones 3 to 8 in full sun to partial shade.

* photo taken on April 18 2010 @ U.S. National Arboretum

Camassia leichtlinii ( Great Camass )
Reaches up to 4 x 1.5 ( rarely over 2 ) feet, and is native to forest edges in western North America ( from southwest British Columbia to California ).
The grassy, dense foliage is mid-green.
The foliage goes dormant during late summer.
The blue flowers, up to 3 inches across, are borne on tall spikes during mid spring. A single flower spire may contain up to 40 flowers.
Hardy zones 3 to 8 in full sun to partial shade. Tolerates clay and wet sites that become dry during summer. The bulbs should be planted during autumn and at least 8 inches in depth. It is great for naturalizing.

'Alba'
White flowers

'Blue Danube'
Deep blue flowers.

'Semiplena'
Double flowers.

Camassia quamash ( Common Camass )
A bulbous perennial, reaching up to 2.6 x 1 ( rarely over 2 ) feet, that is native to western North America ( from southwest British Columbia to Jasper National Park, Alberta; south to northern Oregon to northern Utah to central Montana ). It is critically endangered in Alberta.
The narrow, linear leaves, up to 24 x 0.7 inches in size, are mid-green.
The very showy, blue flowers, up to 2 inches across, are borne on large spikes, up to 12 inches in length, during late spring.
Hardy zones 3 to 8 in full sun to partial shade ( also full shade in deciduous woodlands with late leafing trees ). Tolerates clay and wet sites that become dry during summer. The bulbs should be planted 4 inches deep and about 9 inches apart. They prefer deciduous shade where summers are hot and dry.

* photo taken by William & Wilma Follette @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

'Orion'
Very dark blue flowers, otherwise idential.

Camassia scilloides ( Eastern Camass )
A perennial, reaching up to 2.5 feet in height, that is native to moist open woods and moist meadows in eastern North America ( from eastern Kansas to southern Wisconsin to southern Michigan to Amherstburg and Pelee Island, Ontario to northwest Pennsylvania; south to central Texas to central Alabama to central North Carolina...it is not native to the northeastern U.S. ). It is endangered in Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia & SC, critically endangered in Canada & NC. Eastern Camass is threatened in IL. It occurred sporadically around Amherstburg, the Lake Erie islands as well as the Ohio shore during the 1800s. The rounded bulbs are up to 1.2 inches in diameter.
The leaves are up to 24 x 0.7 ( rarely over 20 x 0.3 ) inches in size.
The flowers, up to 0.5 inches wide, are white or blue.
Hardy zones 4 to 8.

* photos taken by Clarence A. Rechenthin @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

* photos taken on Apr 23 2017 @ Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD

* photo taken on May 1 2021 in Columbia, MD

* photo taken on May 6 2024 @ Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD