The Closest Botanist to Home

Camassia cusickii

I have featured this plant before and I think I referenced at the time how it has been maligned in some bulb reference books as coarse leaved and small flowered. I for one am a huge fan, I think it can look stately on it's own, and while the color may be a bit of white-washed pale purple tending towards nothing to write home about, I rather like the upright form. 

One of the funner aspects of the plant is who it was named for, William Conklin Cusick, the deaf botanist who explored so much of the wonderful Elkorn, Blue and Wallowa mts in Oregon. The part I like best is how he grew up right smack dab in the country that Illahe now occupies. He lived on kingston praire (now a nature preserve and close to where I used to do some mitigated riparian restoration work). He attended Willamette University in 1864-65, (My sister works for the University that occupies much of downtown Salem). He also lived for a time in Dallas, OR (the drummer in the band I was in in High School lived in Dallas). So many aspects that hit so close to home!

Anyway, I won't do the great man justice with these little snippets, but he also has one of my favorite Monkeyflowers named for him and you can read about it and his life in the great NPSO publication: http://www.npsoregon.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis14/love.pdf

The weather has been spotty, rain mixed with some sun. Supposedly headed for temps in the 80's this weekend. 

Cheers and happy friday, 

Mark