Common cainas is a perennial, bulbous herb of the lily family, 8 to 24 inches 

 high, ranging from British Columbia to western Montana, Utah, and California. 

 It often occurs in great abundance in moist mountain meadows in the spring 

 but is less common on damp grassy flats and slopes, and in the drier portions 

 of swampy areas. 



During the spring the palatability of cainas is fair or fairly good, occa- 

 sionally good, for sheep and cattle. Such game as elk, caribou, and moose, 

 frequently crop camas early in the season. The edible, oval, tuliplike bulbs 

 of common camas were formerly a very important food of the northwestern 

 Indians and are still thus used to some extent. Many of the early western 

 explorers, voyageurs, and missionaries have written interesting accounts about 

 this plant. For example, de Smet 2 reports : 



I cannot pass over in silence the camash root, and the peculiar manner in which it is 

 prepared. It is abundant, and, I may say, is the queen root of this clime. It is a small, 

 white, vapid onion, when removed from the earth, but becomes black and sweet when 

 prepared for food. The women arm themselves with long, crooked sticks, to go in search 

 of the camash. After having procured a certain quantity of these roots, by dint of long 

 and painful labor, they make an excavation in the earth from 12 to 15 inches deep, and 

 of proportional diameter, to contain the roots. They cover the bottom with closely 

 cemented pavement, which they make red hot by means of a fire. After having carefully 

 withdrawn all the coals, they cover the stones with grass or wet hay ; then place a layer 

 of camash, another of wet hay, a third of bark overlaid with mold, whereon is kept a 

 glowing fire for 50, 60, and sometimes 70 hours. The camash thus acquires a consistency 

 equal to that of the jujube. It is sometimes made into loaves of various dimensions. It 

 is excellent, especially when boiled with meat; if kept dry, it can be preserved a long 

 time. 



Granville Stuart 3 writes that the Snake Indians call this plant Pah-see-go, 

 meaning water, or swamp sego, and that the bulb has 



A sweet gummy taste, and is very nutritious. * * * the Indians dig it, cook it in 

 kettles, and dry it, when it becomes very hard, and will keep for years if kept dry. It is 

 also very good boiled when freshly dug. * * * It is very abundant in Oregon, and 

 was an important article of food to the first settlers. Hence, they derive their sobriquet 

 of "camas eaters", "camas" being the name that the root is known by among the whites. 



Prof. Blankinship 4 states the Indians made long trips after these bulbs which 

 they stored for winter use ; the bulbs were dug after the plants had bloomed ; 

 baking improved their flavor. The Flathead Indians called the plant Etwoi. 



Dr. Frederick V. Coville 5 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, has straightened out the complicated synonymy 

 of this plant, the confusion having arisen largely from the fact that the 

 specific name esculenta (-um) has been applied both to this species and to a very 

 different eastern camas. 



Leichtlin camas (Quama-'sia leichtlin'H, syn. Camas' sia, leichtlin'U), a com- 

 mon species which occurs from Vancouver Island to Sierra County, Calif., is 

 replaced immediately eastward by the very closely related Suksdorf camas 

 (Q. suksdor' fti) , which represents a different botanical section of the genus, 

 with flowers more regular, often larger, the petallike flower segments twisted 

 together (instead of separately) over the fruit, and the podstalks spreading 

 rather than erect. Its palatability is similar to that of common camas and 

 the bulbs are edible. 



2 Smet, P. J. de. OREGON MISSIONS AND TRAVELS OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, IN 

 1845-46. 408 pp., illus. New York. 1847. 



8 Stuart, G. MONTANA AS IT is ; BEING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ITS RESOURCES, BOTH 



MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL, INCLUDING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE PACE OF THE 

 COUNTRY, ITS CLIMATE, ETC. 175 pp. New York. 1865. 



4 Blankinship, J. W. NATIVE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF MONTANA. Mont. Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 Bull. 56, 36 pp. 1905. 



B Coville, F. V. THE TECHNICAL NAME OF THB CAMAS PLANT. Blol. SoC. Wash. ProC. 



11 : 61-65. 1897. 



