by Dr. F. Alice LeDuc
Camas : Camassia quamash – Common Camas; Camassia leichtlinii – Great Camas
Camas is such a treat to come upon as one is hiking or walking through the meadows with wet seepages, bogs and moist wetlands. The light blue of the flowers is so beautiful. I know that I look for the delicate flower spikes in midspring. Spring comes at different times as you travel up in elevation. So, what you find around Eagle Point might be sooner that when you would find the same flowers around Lost Creek Lake, then if you travel up to Union Creek plants flower later and then ultimately is Huckleberry gap Camas will be blooming in late May to June.
Camassia species originally were classified in the Lily Family then with modern knowledge they were moved into the family Hyacinthaceae, but now it has found a final place in the family Asparagaceae. Both species have their dormant phase as a true bulb. In spring one can find the foliage, linear grass-like leaves arise from the bulb, as many as nine blades. The flower stalk arises from the center; it terminates in an inflorescence called a raceme. The individual flowers are pale to dark blue, star-shaped, composed of six tepals. The common Camas has bracts underneath the pedicel of each flower longer that the pedicel while the Great Camas has bracts shorter than the pedicel.
The range of Common Camas is British Columbia east to Alberta and south to California thence east to Montana and Wyoming. Great Camas is found from British Columbia to California and east to Nevada. Both species need constant moisture in the spring while growing and flowering but handle dry conditions after seedpods have matured and leaves die down. This type of habitat is called vernal. This simply means in the spring.
The bulbs were an important food source to the Indigenous people of the Northwest U.S. They cultivated the plants in plots that were managed by kin groups. Years ago, you could see the sky “reflected” in the meadows throughout The Northwestern U.S. The meadows were in fact filled with flowering Camas. For many years the Indigenous people of the area had cultivated Camas. So instead of the fields of modern agriculture the meadows were filled with Camas. Each family group had their own plots which often had distinct boundary markers. For decades the families would harvest the bulbs in the fall thus cultivating the soil. Then in late winter or very early spring they would burn the meadows clearing the vegetation away and reducing plant competition.
The bulbs (mainly Common Camas) were pit-roasted or boiled, then treated in several different ways. Roasted bulbs could be dried and ground into flour used for baking or thickening. Pit roasted bulbs taste is similar to a sweet potato but sweeter. Boiled bulbs produced a syrup. Care must be taken when eating Camas bulbs, as saccharide compounds in them can cause extreme flatulence in the consumer. In addition, EXTREME CARE must be taken because the bulbs of the Camas look similar to the Death Camas. The flowers of the two species are very different. The subject of the death camas will be told in a future article.
For those of you that are garden lovers, the Common Comas grows happily in the garden. It likes full sun and must have constant moist soil in the spring.
Happy Gardening!
