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| ## great camas {#great-camas .Title-Header}                           |
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| *Camassia quamash* (Pursh) Greene ssp. *quamash*                      |
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| Plant Symbol = CAQUQ                                                  |
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###### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & Corvallis (OR) Plant Materials Center*

##### Alternative Names

Leichtlin's camas, large camas, *Camassia leichtlinii* ssp*.
suksdorfii*.

**Warning:** [Death camas (*Zigadenus venenosus*) can be confused with
edible camas bulbs and is toxic]{.underline}. Be sure of your
identification of camas bulbs before eating them!

##### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: Camas was and continues to be one of the most important
\"root\" foods of western North

American indigenous peoples, from southwestern British Columbia to
Montana, and south to California (Kuhnlein and Turner 1991). The part of
the plant that was relished is actually a bulb. Camas was used by
Northwest Coast peoples, the Coast Salish of Vancouver Island, western
Washington groups, Squamish, Sechelt, Comox, and Kwak-waka\'wakw of the
British Columbia coast. Camas was considered to be one of the most
important bulbs to local California natives. The Maidu particularly
valued great camas.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="1.988888888888889in"
height="4.551388888888889in"}

Except for choice varieties of dried salmon, no other food item was more
widely traded (Gunther 1973). People traveled great distances to harvest
the bulbs and there is some suggestion that plants were dispersed beyond
their range by transplanting (Turner and Efrat 1982; Turner et al.
1983). To the Nez Perce people, camas is still the most important root
in trade, and trading is traditionally impossible without camas bulbs
(Harbinger 1964). Dried camas is the most expensive form of camas, with
baked and then raw camas being less expensive. At marriage trades, the
girl's family gives roots in corn husk bags. At funeral trades, camas
roots are given to friends and relatives by the widow. The Nez Perce
traded camas roots with the Warm Springs, Umatilla, Cayuse, Walla Walla,
Nespelem, Yakama, Crows, and Flatheads.

The bulbs were usually dug after flowering, in summer, although some
peoples dug them in spring. Harvesting the bulbs traditionally took
weeks or months among the Nez Perce. Each family group \"owned\" its own
camping spot and harvesting spot. These were passed down in families
from generation to generation. Turf was lifted out systematically in
small sections and then replaced after only larger bulbs had been
removed. The bulbs were dug with a pointed digging stick. Bulbs were
broken up and replanted. Annual controlled burning was used to maintain
an open prairie-like habitat for optimum camas production. Areas were
harvested only every few years.

Traditionally, camas bulbs were almost always pit-cooked. Within the
past 100 years, camas bulbs have also been cooked by stovetop methods
(Turner and Kuhnlein 1983). The bulbs are allowed to cook for 24-36
hours when pit-cooked (Turner and Bell 1971). It is probable that
lengthy cooking is necessary for maximum conversion of the inulin in
*Camassia* to fructose. The sweetness of cooked camas gave it utility as
a sweetener and enhancer of other foods. Before sugar, European traders
introduced molasses, and honey. Sweetening agents were in short supply
among native peoples, and camas was highly valued in this capacity.
Sometimes other foods, such as the rhizomes of springbank clover
(*Trifolium wormskioldii*) and the roots of Pacific silverweed
(*Potentilla anserina* ssp. *pacifica*) were cooked with the camas
bulbs. The Kalapuyan of the Willamette Valley in Oregon used to flavor
camas with tarweed (*Madia elegans*). Bulbs don't keep well fresh. They
were cooked or sun-dried and stored for later use. Sometimes camas bulbs
were pressed flat and made into camas cakes the size of biscuits before
being dried (Turner et al. 1983). Dried bulbs were re-constituted by
soaking in water, usually overnight.

Many of the traditional camas gathering sites, such as Weippe Prairie
and Camas Prairie in Idaho and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, have
been converted to agriculture. The average size of a camas patch needed
to feed a five person family was 2.7 ha (Thoms 1989). Camas roots are
hard to find now. Restoration of camas prairies and access to camas
bulbs are priorities of many Indian people. At one time, "When camas was
in bloom in wet meadows, the flowers grow so thickly that they look like
a blue lake" (Murphey 1959:14).

Camas stalks and leaves were used for making mattresses. It was
sometimes used in place of grass when baking camas in pits. Camas is
used by the Nez Perce as a cough medicine. It is boiled, and the juice
is strained and mixed with honey.

*Ornamental*: Horticulturally, this plant is used for cut flowers, beds,
borders, ground cover, rock gardens, and prairie restoration.

*Wildlife*: Elk, deer, and moose reportedly graze camas early in the
spring (Craighead, Craighead, and Davis 1963). Gophers eat camas and
move the bulbs to another area where they sprout and grow the next year
(Watson 1988). Indian women in Oregon's Umpqua Valley robbed camas bulbs
from gopher caches (Piper 1916). Herbivorous insects also eat camas
leaves.

###### 

##### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

##### Description

*General*: Lily Family (Liliaceae). Great camas or Leichtlin's camas
(*Camassia quamash* spp. *quamash*) is a liliaceous, perennial herb that
grows from an edible bulb. The plant can grow from 24-48 inches (60-120
cm) tall. Leaves are long and narrow, grass-like, and emerge from the
base. The inflorescence is a spike-like cluster borne on a leafless stem
that is held above the leaves. Camas flowers are creamy-white to deep
blue-violet; they have 6 tepals, 6 stamens, and 3 stigmas. The white
form is considered to be native only to the Umpqua Valley of Oregon.
Great camas differs from common camas (*Camassia quamash* ssp.
*breviflora*) in the following ways: the flowers are regular, with
tepals that twist together after anthesis and remain over the ovary;
anthers are dull yellow to violet; the plant is larger, with longer
flower stalks and bigger bulbs; and there is a fine, waxy powder on the
leaves. The seeds are usually larger as well. The fruits are
barrel-shaped to three-angled capsules, splitting into three parts to
release many black, angled seeds.

##### Distribution

Great camas grows in wet meadows, woods, prairies, moist hillsides, and
streamside areas. Camas habitat is often ephemeral, and dries up by late
spring. Great camas grows from south Vancouver Island to northern
California, from the coast to the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains at
elevations below 10,800 feet (3300 meters). This sub-species does not
extend east of the Cascades. In British Columbia, great camas is
restricted to wet flats, ditches, and moist rocky areas on southern
Vancouver Island and the adjacent Gulf Islands. Great camas blooms in
late April to late June. Common and great camas often grow together. For
current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site.

##### Establishment

Great camas can be propagated from seeds or bulbs; shade tolerance,
moisture requirement, and preferred planting depth may differ among
specific phenotypes. Great camas is frequently found in areas with soil
moisture persisting throughout most of the growing season. Its preferred
habitat includes shady environments, such as those that occur along
riparian zones or under moderately dense deciduous forest canopies in
western Oregon. However, it can be found in more open habitats elsewhere
within its natural range. The two camas sub-species are generally found
in the same environments. The bulbs of great camas can be substantially
larger in size and deeper in the soil than common camas, and sometimes
grow 16 inches or more below the surface. Bulb depth appears limited by
shallow water tables, anoxic conditions, or restrictive layers. The
occasional occurrence of a large, thick root beneath a bulb may aid in
re-locating or re-establishing it at a greater depth. Plants require
irrigation or moist soil conditions to become established. Great camas
can be difficult to establish in California.

###### Live Plant (Bulb) Collections

Great camas is readily established by transplanting wild or commercially
grown bulbs. Wild harvests should be restricted to salvage sites with
appropriate approvals or permits. Due to loss of wetland habitat
throughout the United States, harvesting plants from the wild is rarely
appropriate or legal except under salvage situations. Use of bulbs or
seeds from local nurseries or greenhouses is strongly recommended.

The best time to excavate bulbs is from early summer through mid-fall.
This is the "quiescent" period that follows seed maturation, foliar
senescence, and development of the daughter bulb. However, commercial
bulb harvest takes place when the leaves are still green and must be
done carefully to avoid damage. The bulb tunic or covering is very thin
(De Hertogh and Le Nard 1993). Given that camas commonly occupies sites
high in silt and clay that dry out in summer, windows for digging are
often narrow. There is a brief period when soils are moist after
flowering in the spring; the next time to harvest is in the fall after
the rains begin. Store the bulbs in a dry, dark, cool, well ventilated
place in a potting medium such as dry peat moss, similar to
recommendations for fall planted/spring flowering bulbs (such as
daffodils and tulips). Keep the bulbs from completely drying out and
transport or store at 63-68° F (De Hertogh, Noone, and Lutman 1990).
Common camas reproduces vegetatively by offset bulblets (De Hertogh et.
al. 1993). However, much less than one percent of a wild population may
produce offsets and bulbs may be stimulated to do so only as the result
of a wound (Thoms 1989).

Plant camas outdoors in the fall or early winter, when soils are moist
enough to dig and prevailing soil temperatures are cool. This is
generally below 60°F. Fall planting allows for better root development
and fulfillment of any chilling requirement for flowering (De Hertogh
et. al. 1993). Bulbs, bulblets, and offsets can be utilized. However, if
flowering is desired the following spring, bulbs must be of sufficient
age (3-5 years old with 3-4 bulb leaves or scales) and size (Thoms
1989). Bulb leaves are laminate concentric layers that comprise much of
the bulb, reminiscent of an onion. Bulbs with just two bulb leaves never
flower, those with three routinely flower, and those with four almost
always flower. Older bulbs will be found deeper in the ground, and bulbs
which flower will probably be at least 0.6-0.8 inch (1.5-2.0 cm) wide
(Thoms 1989). In the commercial bulb trade, the minimum size for export
and thus flowering is a circumference of 2.4 inches (6 cm) (De Hertogh
and Le Nard 1993).

The larger the bulb the greater the planting depth can be. Planting
depth ranges from 0.5-1 inches for 1-2 year old bulblets up to 4-6
inches for mature bulbs (as measured to their base). Larger bulbs (1.5
inches in diameter or greater) can be planted deeper (8-10 inches) if
drainage is appropriate. Commercial production involves planting from
October to November in well drained soil of pH 6-7 with at least 2%
organic matter, covering with at least 3 inches of soil above the bulb
"nose", applying 2 inches of straw mulch, fertilizing with 7-14-28
fertilizer four weeks after planting, and harvesting in July (De
Hertogh, Noone and Lutman 1990). Keep the camas bed damp until it gets
warm. Once plants senesce after flowering, stop watering so seeds form
and bulbs cure. Suggested spacing for flower beds and naturalized
landscapes vary from 3-4 inches apart (8-10 per sq. ft.) to 6-8 inches
apart. Other publications recommend 6-8 bulbs every 12 inches for
outdoor gardens. A dense "natural" stand may have 9 plants/sq. ft.
(100/sq. meter) or more (Thoms 1989). It may be necessary to bury bulbs
with a protective wire mesh to prevent herbivory. The mesh needs to be
coarse enough to allow shoots to grow through (De Hertogh et. al. 1993).

###### Seed Collections

Great camas propagates easily from seed. It can be collected as soon as
the pods mature (turn light brown) or split open to reveal the mature
black seeds. Pods ripen from late May- July depending on latitude,
longitude, moisture conditions, or elevation. Dry seeds can be stored
frozen or in a cool, dry place prior to planting.

Camas seed requires 42-100 days of cold temperatures (34-40°F) under
moist stratification for maximum germination (90-100%), (Emery 1988,
Guerrant and Raven 1995, Deno 1993, Northway pers. comm. 1998, Thoms
1989). "Moist stratification" means placement of seeds which are
"imbibed", or have soaked up water, in layers of a moist medium at cool
temperatures to allow for after-ripening. Germination also requires cool
conditions and can occur in the dark (Northway pers. comm. 1998). The
alternative is to plant seed outdoors in the fall (Sept-Oct).
One-leafed, grass-like seedlings will emerge in February or March under
suitable conditions. Seedlings require moisture through the spring
growing period to survive. Warm temperatures during seedling development
can be lethal.

Suggested site preparation methods and seeding rates for wetland
revegetation are not well known, but a broadcast rate of 20 live
seeds/sq. ft. for both *Camassia* sub-species resulted in poor to good
seedling counts the following spring (0-10 or more seedlings/sq. ft.)
(Darris, pers. comm., 1999). Seedling success was dependent on weed
competition, hydrology, type of disturbance, mulch, erosion, or other
factors. Camas seedlings were inhibited by dense stands of live grass
such as *Lolium multiflorum*. However, seedlings appeared to benefit
when grown in the mulch of native grass (*Deschampsia cespitosa*), at
least on well-drained, stable, slightly higher ground (*Ibid*). In areas
with wet, mild winters, soil scarification for shallow seed coverage or
just constant moisture from irrigation or winter rains can result in
good germination. At least one grower sows seed directly on the soil
surface in the fall (Robinson pers. comm. 1999). However, other growers
have found that a 1-2 inch covering of organic mulch is required during
the first growing season to protect the tiny bulblet from exposure to
dry soil, surface cracking, and extreme temperatures. Sawdust or a
chemically killed dense stand of grass works well (Watson pers. comm.
1999). Seeds deeper than 0.4-0.8 inch (1-2 cm) will not germinate
successfully (Watson 1988).

*Seeds per pound*: *Camassia quamash* ssp. *quamasa* -- 72,000 (+/-
10,000)

##### Management

Camas is favored as forage by deer so fencing or repellents may be
useful, particularly during the first growing season. Consistent soil
moisture is required every spring, but the soil can be allowed to dry
out soon after the pods mature or the leaves senesce (dry up and turn
brown). Moderate soil nutrient levels are beneficial. In natural
settings, minor soil disturbance (loosening, surface scarification)
adjacent to existing specimens may enhance natural regeneration by seed.
Late summer field burning (where and when permitted) may improve stand
vigor, reduce competition from brush and certain weeds, and aid in
regeneration. For optimal bulb development, avoid mowing or grazing more
than lightly, if at all, even during foliar senescence. Individual
plants may live 15-20 years.

*Traditional Resource Management* (TRM) was often intensive, to the
point of being considered "semi-agricultural" by some. According to Dr.
Nancy Turner, TRM included the following:

-   Ownership, demarcation, and inheritance of beds or patches,

-   Clearing of rock, brush, and weedy vegetation,

-   Harvesting bulbs after seeds were produced, during specific times of
    the year,

-   Periodic field burning in summer after digging,

-   In some cases, sod removal then bulb removal followed by sod
    replacement,

-   Digging or "cultivation" to keep the soil loose,

-   "Selective breeding" by transplanting "better" bulbs to the beds,

-   Sustainable harvest techniques, including partial, selective
    harvests and incidental or planned promotion of camas colonization
    and reproduction, and

-   Death camas bulbs (*Zigadenus venenosus*) were removed, so they
    wouldn't accidentally be mistaken for the edible camas bulbs.

##### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Cultivars of Leichtlin's camas are widely available in the flower bulb
industry. One cultivar*, Camassia leichtlinii* 'Alba', is white (or
bluish-white), while 'Caerulea' has light blue flowers, and 'Plena' has
double greenish yellow blooms (Brenzel 1995). 'Blauwe Donau' is
described as having sea-lavender-violet flowers and lilac anthers. 'Lady
Eve Price' has campanula-violet flowers with each segment having a
darker colored methyl-violet central stripe. 'Semiplena' has large,
semi-double, creamy-white flowers. The botanical variety or subspecies
*suksdorfii* has blue to violet flowers (Royal General Bulbgrower's
Association 1991).

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

##### References

Barrett, S.A. & E.W. Gifford 1933. *Miwok material culture. Indian life
of the Yosemite region*. Yosemite Association, Yosemite National Parks,
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Brenzel, K.N. (ed.) 1995. *Sunset western garden book*. Sunset
Publishing Corporation, Menlo Park, California. 200 pp.

Bryan, J. 1989. *Bulbs* (2 volumes). Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

CalPhotos. 2000. *Camassia quamash* ssp. *quamash*. Version: 000328.
Photo: Brother Alfred Brousseau.
\<http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=5898&one=T\>.
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Cooke, S.S. (ed.) 1997. *A field guide to the common wetland plants of
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on spring flowering bulbs*. Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc.,
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(Fritillaria ssp.): Two liliaceous "root" foods of the northwest coast
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\<http://plants.usda.gov\>. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
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Washington.

##### Prepared By

###### *Michelle Stevens*

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

*Dale C. Darris*

Corvallis Plant Materials Center, Corvallis, Oregon

##### Species Coordinator

###### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Science Department, University of California, Davis,
California

Edited 05dec00 jsp; 01may03 ahv; 31may06 jsp

#####  {#section-1 .Header-3}

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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