Page 46 - The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods

Camas, Camassia spp. (ASPARAGACEAE)

Walter Siegmund, CC-BY-SA-3.0

CAMAS, also known as Blue Camas, grows from an the plant and come back after it has made seeds. Only
edible bulb, 12-28 inches (30-70 cm) tall in a grass- harvest from large colonies of plants and only take a
like cluster. A moisture loving plant, it grows in moist couple of the biggest plants from a colony. Camas are
meadows, wet prairies, and streamside areas. There high in inulin, which can cause gas and stomach upset
are 6 edible species of Camassia, all growing in North so cooking camas is necessary. Cooking camas for a long
America: C. angusta, C. cusickii, C. howellii, C. leichtinii, time helps to convert the inulin to fructose which makes
C. quamash, and C. scilloides. The tastiest is C. qua- them delicious. Personally, I like to pit-roast them.
mash (meaning sweet,) and is found from southwest- PREPARING CAMAS: In a roasting pan in the oven,
ern British Columbia to California. or Dutch oven over a fire, place cleaned camas free of
FLOWER: Multiple spikes of the blue to lilac colored, their onion-like papery skins, in about 1 inch of wa-
star-shaped, six-petaled flowers can be up to 4 inches ter and cook for 24- 48 hrs. at 200°F (93°F), check-
(10 cm) each, and rise above the leaves on a single ing about every 12 hrs. At home, a more energy ef-
spike up to 3 ft. (0.9 m) tall in summer. They can color ficient option might be to use a slow cooker or even
an entire meadow with their unique flowers. a pressure cooker, with the main idea being low
and slow. Use prepared camas like you might other
LEAF: Grass-like, 4 to 24 inches (10-60 cm) long, slen- root vegetables such as parsnips or sweet potatoes.
der, pale grey-green basal leaves.
POISONOUS LOOK-ALIKES: Death Camas, Toxicos-
EDIBLE PARTS: bulb
cordion venenosum, grows in the same areas as blue
KEY MEDICINAL USES: It may aid in childbirth or as
camas, leaves and bulbs look similar, but flowers are
an ingredient in cough medicine.
greenish-white or cream and somewhat smaller, and
HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: To ensure you have the the leaves may have an onion smell (but more than
right plant, harvest while plant is blooming or mark often do not).

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