LILY FAMILY. Liliaceae. 



There are several kinds of Camassia, one eastern; herbs 

 with onion-like bulbs, long, narrow leaves and thin, dry 

 bracts. The flowers are blue of various shades, with six, 

 separate, somewhat spreading divisions, each with a 

 stamen on its base, the anthers, swinging, the style thread- 

 like, with a three-cleft tip; the capsule three-lobed, with 

 several seeds in each compartment. Varieties of Camassia 

 have long been cultivated in European gardens. The 

 name is derived from Quamash, the Indian name for these 

 plants. 



Looking across the vivid green of wet 



Camass, Quamash meadowg and marshes the deep blue 

 Camassia f . 



qudmash patches of this flower are often conspicu- 



Blue ous and beautiful. They grow from one 



Summer to over two feet high, taller than the grass- 



* ^ e l eaves t forming a loose cluster, with 



papery bracts. The flowers are from an 

 inch and a half to over two inches across, the six divisions 

 spreading out into a star. The buds are tinged with tur- 

 quoise-blue and striped with purple, giving a fine iridescent 

 effect, and the flowers, which fade very quickly, are often 

 exceedingly handsome, varying in color from dark-blue 

 to white, but usually deep, bright purplish-blue, with a 

 green ovary, a long purple style and yellow anthers, with 

 purple filaments. They are larger and handsomer in 

 northern California than in Yosemite. Grizzly bears are 

 fond of the bulbs and the Indians of the Northwest prized 

 them as a delicacy, indeed the Nez Perce* war in Idaho 

 was caused by encroachments on a territory where they 

 were abundant. They were cooked elaborately in pits, 

 care being taken to avoid the poisonous bulbs of the Death 

 Camass, which resemble them. The Indians also boil 

 the bulbs in water and malce good molasses from them, 

 which they use on festive occasions. This is sometimes 

 called Wild Hyacinth, but the name is poor, as it does not 

 resemble a hyacinth in character. 



