Preliminary Results Regarding the Behavior of Some Camassia Species in Iaşi Ecological Conditions (Northeastern Romania)

Abstract

Camassia genus (Asparagaceae family) includes bulbous herbaceous plants native to North America where they have been cultivated for over 7000 years, especially for food purposes. In this paper, the behavior of two species of Camassia (C. quamash and C. leichtlinii), cultivated in the experimental field of University of Life Sciences of Iasi, Romania, was evaluated. The data obtained in the period 2021-2022 indicate the appropriate adaptation of the two Camassia taxa in the ecological conditions of Iași. A greater vigor of the C. leichtlinii plants was evident, respectively taller flower stems, with longer inflorescences, larger and numerous flowers. The correlations between the different morphological characters highlighted the existence of the positive correlation in most cases, stronger being between the height of the stems and the length of the inflorescences, and between the length of the inflorescences and the number of flowers/ stem. Negative correlations in both species were recorded between the number of flower stems/ plant and the number of flowers/ stem. From the phenological point of view, the initiation of vegetation and the appearance of flower stalks took place approximately simultaneously, instead, flowering was about 14 days earlier in C. quamash.