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 eadows and marshes, the deep blue 
a a eae 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- 
Northwest like leaves, forming a loose cluster, with 
and Utah 
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 Percé 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 make 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. 
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