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Showing posts with label agavaceae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agavaceae. Show all posts

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Camas?

I'm guessing someone out there can help with this identification.  We had to do field work farther north in Sonoma County today.  While walking along a trail, we passed a wet area with these beautiful purple (or dark blue?) flowers with prominent yellow anthers (holding pollen):


What do you think?  Is this Camas, also known as Quamash (Camassia quamash)?  I'd love to know for sure, but I don't have experience identifying this group.  Thanks for any feedback!

ADDENDUM (14 April 2019): Just a brief update David has confirmed this as Camassia quamash.  Thanks, David! 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Opening in the p.m.


The wonderful flowers of Wavyleaf Soap Plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. divaricatum), photographed in the coastal grassland on Bodega Head on 17 June 2013.

Here's an even closer view:



I wasn't the only one interested in these flowers:


Were the ants searching for nectar?


If you'd like to learn more about Wavyleaf Soap Plant, there's a great write-up at this U.S. Forest Service website.  

One of the things I enjoyed learning about most was the species name.  I've always been curious about it so I was glad to finally learn about its origin.  The species name, "pomeridianum," derives from "post meridiem."  This is a Latin phrase for afternoon post = after and meridiem = midday.  The first two letters of this phrase led to the abbreviation p.m.  So why was this phrase attached to the plant?  The flowers tend to open late in the day or in the evening.