Camassia
They are perennial plants with basal linear leaves measuring 20 to 80 centimetres (8 to 32 in) in length, which emerge early in the spring.Historically, the genus was placed in the lily family (Liliaceae), when this was very broadly defined to include most lilioid monocots.[3] DNA and biochemical studies have led the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group to reassign Camassia to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae.[13] Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest engaged in active management and cultivation of blue camas (Kweetla).[17] Camassia species were an important food staple for Indigenous peoples and settlers in parts of the American Old West.The look and taste is something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter, and with more crystalline fibers due to the presence of inulin in the bulbs.Indigenous groups that lived in environments that suited camas production, such as the Coast Salish, developed networks of exchange in order to procure a variety of goods and foods, such as cedar bark baskets and dried halibut.[29] In North American Indigenous cultures, trade had economic as well as diplomatic functions, with ceremonies such as the potlatch serving as a means to legitimize an individual's rule and establish their status as a provider.These results imply that the degree of anthropogenic dispersal of Camassia quamash that occurred was not of such a scale as to leave a marker in the plant's genetic structure.
MelanthieaeCamassia quamashScientific classificationPlantaeTracheophytesAngiospermsMonocotsAsparagalesAsparagaceaeAgavoideaeLindl.Type speciesSynonymsSalisb.asparagus familyNorth Americaperennial plantsflowersLiliaceaelilioid monocotsScilloideaeAngiosperm Phylogeny GroupfamilyWorld Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesCamassia angustaGreat PlainsMississippi ValleyOklahomaLouisianaArkansasMissouriKansasIllinoisIndianaCamassia cusickiiOregonCamassia howelliiCamassia leichtliniiBritish ColumbiaWashingtonCaliforniaWashoe CountyNevadaquamashCanadaAlbertaMontanaWyomingCamassia scilloidesMarylandGeorgiaOntarioCamassia esculentaillegitimatesynonymIndigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwestcontrolled burningIndigenous peoplesAmerican Old Westdeathcamaspit-cookedsweet potatofibersinulinflatulenceoligosaccharidesNez PerceBlackfootCoast SalishSongheesKutenaiKtunaxaLewis and Clark ExpeditionGreat Basincamas prairiesmarshesforestoutcropsmeadowsprairiesstreamsriversdividedrunnersPacific NorthwestCamas Valley, OregonCamas, WashingtonLacamas Creeknorthern IdahoCamas Prairie RailroadCamas CountyKamas, Utahcedar bark basketspotlatchGarry oak ecosystemanthropogenicRoyal Botanic Gardens, KewBibcodeLepofsky, DanaKuhnlein, Harriet V.Wayback MachineWikispeciesWashington State UniversityNature ConservancyNational Park ServiceWikidataiNaturalistOpen Tree of LifeTropicos