CAMAS LILY

Several years ago DH and I were traveling through south central Idaho in late May across an area called Camas Prairie.  In every wild meadow I could see the haze of acres of tall blue flowers.  I wondered what big blue wild flower was growing all over Camas Prairie.  Duh.

Blue Camas grows wild in the middle altitudes of the 
western United States and British Columbia.

The plant comes from a bulb similar to that of a tulip.  Camas bulbs were a staple food source for many native people long before white explorers arrived.  The bulbs were pit-roasted or boiled.  When dried they were pounded into flour which was used to make a bread.

Lewis and Clark wrote about seeing the “quawmash in blume” and how the meadow 

“resemhles a lake of fine clear water.”..." [Clark, June 12, 1806, at Weippe Prairie, Idaho]

I was able to purchase some Camas bulbs and I planted them in my garden.  

They have thrived and every spring there are more. 

 I’ve never tried boiling them, but I understand they taste something like sweet potato but sweeter.