Camassia scilloides - (image 1 of 4)
Taxonomy
Family: Liliaceae
Habitat
Prairies, savannas, moist woods, woodland borders.
Associates
Distribution
Western PA and southern Ontario west to southern WI and eastern KS, south to GA and TX.
Morphology
Perennial from a bulb 1-3 cm thick. Leaves linear, all basal, to 40 cm long and 1 cm wide. Flowers in a loose, terminal, bracteate raceme on a scape 30-60 cm long; tepals 6, white to blue or pale violet, to 1.2 cm; stamens 6, hypogenous; style solitary, slender with a tri-lobed stigma. Fruit a subglobose, transversely veined capsule.
Notes
Flowers late April to early June
Wetland indicator: Facultative +
The bulbs are edible and can be prepared by boiling or baking, although the texture is said to be gummy.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Peterson, L. A. 1977. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central
North America
Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region. Indiana Academy of
Science.
The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
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Michael Hough © 2010 |