Camassia quamash

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Common camas
Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Camassia
Species:
C. quamash
Binomial name
Camassia quamash
(Pursh) Greene

Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, small camas, [1] common camas, [2] common camash [3] or quamash, is a perennial herb. It is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States.

Description

It is a perennial herbaceous monocot with grasslike leaves emerging from a persistent bulb [4] in a basal rosette.[ citation needed ] The stems are between 30 and 90 centimetres (12 and 35 inches) long.

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 [5] has six tepals, about 2.5 cm (1 in) across, and six stamens. [4]

The plant and its bulbs are similar to the toxic white-flowered meadow death-camas (which is not in Camassia, but part of the genus Toxicoscordion , which grows in the same areas). [6] [7]

Taxonomy

C. quamash subsp. maxima Camassia quamash 6374.JPG
C. quamash subsp. maxima

There are eight subspecies; [8]

Synonyms

The superseded name for Camassia quamash subsp. quamash, Camassia esculenta(Nutt.) Lindl., [9] should not be confused with the superseded name Camassia esculenta(Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob., (nom. illeg.) for Camassia scilloides . [10]

Etymology

The genus name comes from the Nez Perce Indian name for this plant, and means "sweet". [5] 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). [5] The bulbs are or were harvested and pit-roasted or boiled by women of the Nez Perce, [4] Cree, and Blackfoot tribes.

Distribution and habitat

C. quamash subsp. maxima, Skagit County, Washington Camassia quamash 6394.JPG
C. quamash subsp. maxima, Skagit County, Washington

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. [11] 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. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Cultivation

This bulbflower 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.

Uses

Camas is grown as an ornamental plant. Even in the wild, large numbers of camas can color an entire meadow blue-violet.

Food

The bulbs of this Camassia species are edible and nutritious when roasted or boiled, [16] but should not be confused with the toxic white-flowered meadow death-camas; the bulbs are difficult to distinguish. [6] [7]

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. [17] The latter produced a syrup. [18] 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 or consumption of undercooked bulbs. Bulbs can also be dried and pounded into flour, which can be used for baking or as a thickener. [19] [20] 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. [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nez Perce</span> Indigenous peoples of North America

The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camas County, Idaho</span> County in Idaho, United States

Camas County is a county in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Idaho. The county seat and largest city is Fairfield. The county was established 107 years ago in 1917 by the Idaho Legislature with a partition of Blaine County on February 6. It is named for the camas root, or Camassia, a lily-like plant with an edible bulb found in the region, that Native Americans and settlers used as a food source. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,077, making it the second-least populous county in the state, after Clark County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root vegetable</span> Plant root used as a vegetable

Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots such as taproots and tuberous roots as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cayuse people</span> A Native tribe of present-day northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, USA

The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation and government in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The reservation is located near Pendleton, Oregon, at the base of the Blue Mountains.

<i>Chlorogalum</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the agave, yucca, and Joshua tree subfamily

The common names soap plant, soaproot and amole refer to the genus Chlorogalum. They are native to western North America, with some species in Oregon but they are mostly found in California. Common names of the genus and several species derive from their use as soap.

<i>Camassia</i> Genus of plants

Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to North America. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camas prairie</span>

Camas prairies are found in several different geographical areas in the western United States, and are named for the native perennial camas (Camassia}. The culturally and scientifically significant of these areas lie within Idaho and Montana. Camas bulbs were an important food source for Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nez Perce National Historical Park</span> Series of federally protected historic sites in the northwestern United States

The Nez Perce National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park comprising 38 sites located across the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, which include traditional aboriginal lands of the Nez Perce people. The sites are strongly associated with the resistance of Chief Joseph and his band, who in June 1877 migrated from Oregon in an attempt to reach freedom in Canada and avoid being forced on to a reservation. They were pursued by U.S. Army cavalry forces and fought numerous skirmishes against them during the so-called Nez Perce War, which eventually ended with Chief Joseph's surrender in the Montana Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Camas Creek</span>

The Battle of Camas Creek, August 20, 1877, was a raid by the Nez Perce people on a United States Army encampment in Idaho Territory and a subsequent battle during the Nez Perce War. The Nez Perce defeated three companies of U.S. cavalry and continued their fighting retreat to escape the army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau</span> Regional culture in North America

Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians are Indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, and the non-coastal regions of the Northwestern United States.

<i>Toxicoscordion venenosum</i> Species of plant

Toxicoscordion venenosum, with the common names death camas and meadow death camas, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Toxicoscordion, of the Melanthiaceae family. It is native to western North America from New Mexico to Saskatchewan and west to the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sahaptin</span> Ethnic group

The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-speaking peoples included the Klickitat, Kittitas, Yakama, Wanapum, Palus, Lower Snake, Skinpah, Walla Walla, Umatilla, Tenino, and Nez Perce.

<i>Camassia scilloides</i> Species of flowering plant

Camassia scilloides is a perennial herb known commonly as Atlantic camas, wild hyacinth, and eastern camas. It is native to the eastern half of North America, including Ontario and the eastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malheur Indian Reservation</span>

The Malheur Indian Reservation was an American Indian reservation established for the Northern Paiute in eastern Oregon and northern Nevada from 1872 to 1879. The federal government discontinued the reservation after the Bannock War of 1878, under pressure from European-American settlers who wanted the land. This negative recommendation against continuing by its agent William V. Rinehart, led to the internment of more than 500 Paiute on the Yakama Indian Reservation, as well as the reluctance of the Bannock and Paiute to return to the lands after the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weippe Prairie</span> United States historic place

Weippe Prairie is a "beautiful upland prairie field of about two by three miles bordered by farmland made from cleared pine forests" at 3,000 feet elevation in Clearwater County, Idaho, at Weippe, Idaho. Camas flowers grow well there, and attracted native gatherers of the camas roots. It is the location in Idaho where the Lewis and Clark Expedition emerged from crossing the Bitterroot Mountains on the Lolo Trail and first met the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemhi Shoshone</span> Tribe of Northern Shoshone

The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon". The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi River Valley and along the upper Salmon River in Idaho. Bands were very fluid and nomadic, and they often interacted with and intermarried other bands of Shoshone and other tribes, such as the Bannock. Today most of them are enrolled in the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho.

<i>Camassia cusickii</i> Species of flowering plant

Camassia cusickii, common name Cusick's camas or Cusick's quamash, is a species of plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to parts of North America. C. cusickii originally appeared in horticultural journals in the late 1800s, but they have been sold and cultivated for about thirty years.

<i>Camassia howellii</i> Species of flowering plant

Camassia howellii, commonly known as Howell's camas, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae endemic to western Oregon.

<i>Camassia leichtlinii</i> Species of plant

Camassia leichtlinii, the great camas or large camas, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. This herbaceous perennial is native to western North America in British Columbia, Canada and California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bannock (Indigenous American food)</span> Type of bread

Bannock, skaan, Indian bread, alatiq, or frybread is found throughout North-American Native cuisine, including that of the Inuit of Canada and Alaska, other Alaska Natives, the First Nations of the rest of Canada, the Native Americans in the United States, and the Métis.

References

  1. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Camassia quamash". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Kozloff, Eugene N. (2005). Plants of Western Oregon, Washington & British Columbia. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 410. ISBN   978-0-88192-724-5.
  3. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 80. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
  5. 1 2 3 Karen Wiese, Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, p. 22
  6. 1 2 Pojar, Jim; MacKinnon, Andy. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Lone Pine Publishing, 1994, pp. 108–109, ISBN   978-1-55105-040-9
  7. 1 2 Karen Wiese, Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, p. 170
  8. ↑ World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  9. ↑ World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Camassia esculenta (Nutt.) Lindl.
  10. ↑ World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Camassia esculenta (Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob.
  11. ↑ 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, ISBN   0-87480-494-9
  12. ↑ Clute, Willard Nelson (1907). The American botanist, devoted to economic and ecological botany, Volumes 11-15. W.N. Clute & co. p. 98.
  13. ↑ Mathews, Daniel (1999). Cascade-Olympic Natural History: a trailside reference. Raven Editions. p. 168. ISBN   978-0-9620782-1-7.
  14. ↑ Native American History: The Bannock War Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  15. ↑ Brimlow, George Francis. Harney County and Its Range Land, 1951, Binfords & Mort, Portland, Oregon, p. 102ff.
  16. ↑ Lyons, C. P. (1956). Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington (1st ed.). Canada: J. M. Dent & Sons. p. 196.
  17. ↑ Freedman, Robert Louis (1976). "Native North American Food Preparation Techniques". Boletín Bibliográfico de Antropología Americana (1973-1979). 38 (47). Pan American Institute of Geography and History: 131. JSTOR   43996285., s.v. Camas Salish
  18. ↑ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p.  595. ISBN   0-394-73127-1.
  19. ↑ Pieroni, Andrea (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN   0415927463.
  20. ↑ Doherty, Craig A.;Doherty, Katherine M. Plateau Indians, Infobase Publishing, 2008, p. 42, ISBN   978-0-8160-5971-3
  21. ↑ Camas Bulbs, Ark of Taste, Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity
  22. ↑ Quamash Bannock, Ark of Taste, Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity
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