Scientific name: Camassia quamash
Family: ASPARAGACEAE
Common names: “Common camas”
Plant Type: Bulb
Conditions:
Zone: 4-10
Light: Full sun – semi-shade
Exposure: Sheltered
Soil: Fertile humus rich soil
Moisture: Moist well drained, summer drought
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: H 8″ W 32″
Leaf and Stem shape: Narrow, linear leaves, with a shallow keel
Flower: erect racemes of starry, dark blue flowers, with the top buds blooming later than the lower buds, to avoid self pollination
Pruning: N/a
Maintenance: Low
Landscape use: Native garden, oak meadow, flower bed
Propagate: By seed and bulb offset, naturalizes
Pests & Disease: Deer may eat them
Comments: Harvested and roasted by first nations as a source of carbs in winter, beware death camas bulbs growing together with common camas
Cultivars: C. leichtlinii – “Great camas” much larger
Zigadenus venunosus – “Death camas”, bulbs look identical to camas, fatally poisonous,
