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Camassia quamash
Also called Quamash, Camas, Common Camash, Blue Camas, Blue Camass, Camash, Camosh
Small camas is a perennial bulb native to western North America, grown for its blue-violet spring flowers on tall, leafless stems. It is easy to grow in moist, well-drained soil and naturalizes readily.
Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, kwetlal, small camas, common camas, common camash or quamash, is a perennial herb. It is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States.
This bulb flower naturalizes well in gardens. The bulb grows best in well-drained soil high in humus. It will grow in lightly shaded forest areas and on rocky outcrops as well as in open meadows or prairies. Additionally, it is found growing alongside streams and rivers. The plants may be divided in autumn after the leaves have withered. Additionally, the plant spreads by seed rather than by runners.
In the Pacific Northwest, Lekwungen peoples and others have cultivated kwetlal bulbs since precolonial times. Kwetlal has been promoted as a good replacement for invasive species for environmental and cultural restoration.
The species is native to western North America in large areas of southern Canada and the northwestern United States, from British Columbia and Alberta to California and east from Washington state to Montana and Wyoming.
Camas is grown as an ornamental plant. Even in the wild, large numbers of camas can color an entire meadow blue-violet.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Camassia quamash by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
