Table 2.

Presence and absence of vegetative crop domestication syndrome traits within Camassia spp. after Denham et al. [3]. Denham et al. [3, p. 589] consider bulbous underground storage organs as primarily propagated vegetatively and here we follow their criteria for domestication in asexually propagated plants.

trait category	domestication in asexually propagated plants	modern camas traits	archaeological camas trait presence
mode of reproduction	1. partial or complete loss of sexual reproduction ability 2. increased uniformity in clonal reproduction traits	1. estimated 15% reproduce asexually [37] 2. unknown	1. unknown 2. unknown
plant life cycle	shift towards biennial to annual life cycle	perennial life cycle	perennial life cycle; no evidence for decrease in time to maturity (this study)
yield of edible portion	increased size	no evidence [28]; potential to increase size over several generations [29]	no evidence for change in size over time [30], (this study)
ease of harvesting	development of easily separated underground storage organs	easily harvested with digging sticks; many bulbs are easily separated [53]	unknown, but presence in many archaeological sites indicates easily harvested
timing of production	asynchronous and more continuous production, with in-ground storage	usually harvested in summer, but can be harvested in winter as well [53]	unknown; ethnohistoric evidence of multi-season harvests; potential to look at bulb phenology [20]
environmental tolerance	traits that enable cultivation across wider environmental range	popular species among gardeners and bulb enthusiasts; easily transplanted in restoration contexts	no evidence for human dispersal [31]; archaeological presence beyond modern range [25] interpreted as trade; historically recorded beyond contemporary range [4]