RHH's photos with the keyword: camassia quamash

Photographed in a very wet, boggy area near Medical Lake, Washington. Wikipedia gives this information: "The Quamash was a food source for many native peoples in the western United States and Canada. After being harvested in the autumn, once the flowers have withered, the bulbs were pit-roasted or boiled. A pit-cooked camas bulb looks and tastes something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter, and with more crystalline fibers due to the presence of inulin in the bulbs. When dried, the bulbs could be pounded into flour. Native American tribes who ate camas include the Nez Perce, Cree, Coast Salish, Lummi, and Blackfoot tribes, among many others. Camas bulbs contributed to the survival of members of the expedition of Lewis and Clark (1804-1806). Though the once-immense spreads of camas lands have diminished because of modern developments and agriculture, numerous Camas prairies and marshes may still be seen today. In the Great Basin, expanded settlement by whites accompanied by turning cattle and hogs onto camas prairies greatly diminished food available to native tribes and increased tension between Native Americans and settlers and travelers. Warning: While Camassia species are edible and nutritious, the white-flowered Deathcamas species (which are not the genus Camassia, but part of the genus Zigadenus) that grow in the same areas are toxic, and the bulbs are quite similar. It is easiest to tell the plants apart when they are in flower."

This photo is completely untouched. It was taken later in the day as the sun was setting and the strong blues must be the result of the lighting. They certainly are not the result of any tweaking in Photoshop. The picture shows the marshy area near Medical Lake, Washington, where we found thousands of Common Camas growing, the flower shown below. Some of them can be seen in the photo and the blue in the background is a large drift of them. More information on the Common Camas and its use as food by the Indians and early settlers can be found in the description of the flower below. They are not as common as they used to be, however, as a result of the drainage of marshes and wetlands.