Camassia quamash
| Camas | |
|---|---|
 |
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| C. quamash subsp. maxima | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Agavoideae |
| Genus: | Camassia |
| Species: | C. quamash |
| Binomial name | |
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Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene |
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Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, small camas,common camas,common camash or quamash, is a perennial herb. It is one species of the genus Camassia and 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.
It is a perennial herbaceous monocot with leaves emerging from a persistent bulb in a basal rosette.
The stems have a length between 30 and 90 centimetres (12 and 35 in). The leaves are basal and have a grass-like appearance.
The pale blue to deep blue flowers appear in late spring to early summer (May to June in their native habitat). They are arranged in a raceme at the end of the stem. Each of the radially symmetrical, star-shaped flowers has six petals.
There are eight subspecies;
The superseded name for Camassia quamash supsp. quamash, Camassia esculenta (Nutt.) Lindl., should not be confused with the superseded name Camassia esculenta (Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob., (nom. illeg.) for Camassia scilloides.
The genus name comes from the Nez Perce Indian name for this plant, and means "sweet".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). The bulbs were harvested and pit-roasted or boiled by women of the Nez Perce, Cree, and Blackfoot tribes.
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