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Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, kwetlal,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> small camas,<ref>Template:PLANTS</ref> common camas,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> common camash<ref name=BSBI07>Template:BSBI 2007</ref> or quamash, is a perennial herb. It is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States.
DescriptionEdit
Camassia quamash is a perennial plant with a herbaceous character that has a wide range of variation across its geographical range.<ref name="FNA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is a monocot that has grasslike leaves, as typical of that group, that emerge from a persistent bulb.<ref name="SagebrushCo">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bulb is of moderate size, Template:Convert in diameter. The bulbs do not frequently cluster together and their surface is black while the interior is white with layers like that of an onion.<ref name="FNA" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The leaves very rarely number more than nine on a plant and range in length from Template:Cvt. In comparison to their length they are quite narrow, 4 to 20 millimeters in width. The upper surface of the leaves may or may not have a pale, waxy coating depending on the variety.<ref name="FNA" /> All the leaves spring from the base of the plant and the sturdy stem is leafless.<ref name="RMtnWildflowers">Template:Cite book</ref>
The flowering stems in wild or cultivated plants can be up to Template:Convert, but may be as short as Template:Cvt.<ref name="FNA" /><ref name="Brickell">Template:Cite book</ref> As the inflorescence does not have branches it is a raceme.<ref name="RMtnWildflowers" />
The pale blue to deep blue flowers appear in late spring to early summer (May to June in their native habitat). Each of the radially symmetrical, star-shaped flowers<ref name="SNW" /> has six tepals, about Template:Cvt across, and six stamens.<ref name="SagebrushCo" />
The leaves and bulbs of the plant are similar to the toxic white-flowered meadow death-camas, a plant that is not in Camassia, but part of the death-camas genus (Toxicoscordion) and grows in the same areas.<ref name="Pojar & MacKinnon" /><ref name="SNW" />
TaxonomyEdit
There are eight subspecies;<ref>World Checklist of Selected Plant Families</ref>
- Camassia quamash subsp. azurea – small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. breviflora – small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. intermedia – small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. linearis – small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. maxima – small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. quamash – common camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. utahensis – Utah small camas
- Camassia quamash subsp. walpolei – Walpole's small camas
SynonymsEdit
The superseded name for Camassia quamash subsp. quamash, Camassia esculenta (Nutt.) Lindl.,<ref>World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Camassia esculenta (Nutt.) Lindl.</ref> should not be confused with the superseded name Camassia esculenta (Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob., (nom. illeg.) for Camassia scilloides.<ref>World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Camassia esculenta (Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob.</ref>
EtymologyEdit
The genus name comes from the Nez Perce Indian name for this plant, and means "sweet".<ref name="SNW">Template:Cite book</ref> Qém'es, a term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest, and were an important food source for the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).<ref name=SNW/> The bulbs are or were harvested and pit-roasted or boiled by women of the Nez Perce,<ref name="SagebrushCo" /> Cree, and Blackfoot tribes.
Distribution and habitatEdit
The species is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States, from British Columbia and Alberta to California and east from Washington state to Montana and Wyoming.
Though the once-immense spreads of camas lands have diminished because of modern developments and agriculture, numerous camas prairies and marshes may still be seen today. In the Great Basin, expanded settlement by whites accompanied by turning cattle and hogs onto camas prairies greatly diminished food available to native tribes and increased tension between Native Americans and settlers and travelers.<ref>The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, Brigham D. Madsen, foreword by Charles S. Peterson, University of Utah Press (1985, paperback 1995), trade paperback, 286 pages, Template:ISBN</ref> Both the Bannock and Nez Perce Wars began after Nez Perce became incensed at the failure of the US government to uphold treaties, and at settlers who plowed up their camas prairies, which they depended on for subsistence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Native American History: The Bannock War Retrieved 1 March 2008.</ref><ref>Brimlow, George Francis. Harney County and Its Range Land, 1951, Binfords & Mort, Portland, Oregon, p. 102ff.</ref>
CultivationEdit
This bulb flower naturalizes well in gardens. The bulb grows best in well-drained soil high in humus. It will grow in lightly shaded forest areas and on rocky outcrops as well as in open meadows or prairies. Additionally, it is found growing alongside streams and rivers. The plants may be divided in autumn after the leaves have withered. Additionally, the plant spreads by seed rather than by runners.
UsesEdit
Camas is grown as an ornamental plant. Even in the wild, large numbers of camas can color an entire meadow blue-violet.
FoodEdit
The bulbs of this Camassia species are edible and nutritious when roasted or boiled,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but are easily confused with those of the death-camas. Though the white death-camas flowers are very different, the bulbs are difficult to distinguish.<ref name="Pojar & MacKinnon">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="SNW" />
Camas has been a food source for many native peoples in the western United States and Canada. After being harvested in the autumn, once the flowers have withered, the bulbs are pit-roasted or boiled.<ref>Template:Cite journal, s.v. Camas Salish</ref> The latter produced a syrup.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A pit-cooked camas bulb looks and tastes something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter, and with more crystalline fibers due to the presence of inulin in the bulbs—an oligosaccharide responsible for the copious flatulence caused by excessive consumption of undercooked bulbs. Bulbs can also be dried and pounded into flour, which can be used for baking or as a thickener.<ref name="pieroni">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Doherty, Craig A.;Doherty, Katherine M. Plateau Indians, Infobase Publishing, 2008, p. 42, Template:ISBN</ref> Native American tribes who ate camas include the Nez Perce, Cree, Coast Salish, Lummi, and Blackfoot tribes, among many others. Camas bulbs contributed to the survival of members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–06).
Camas bulbs (and bannock made from them) are listed in the Ark of Taste.<ref>Camas Bulbs, Ark of Taste, Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity</ref><ref>Quamash Bannock, Ark of Taste, Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity</ref>
GalleryEdit
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