Camassia quamash, commonly known as camas, 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. Description It is a perennial herbaceous monocot with grasslike leaves emerging from a persistent bulb in a basal rosette. The stems are between long. The pale blue to deep blue flowers appear in late spring to early summer (May to June in their native habitat). They are arranged in a raceme at the end of the stem. Each of the radially symmetrical, star-shaped flowers has six tepals, about across, and six stamens. The plant and its bulbs are similar to the toxic white-flowered meadow death-camas (which is not in Camassia, but part of the genus Toxicoscordion, which grows in the same areas). Taxonomy There are eight subspecies; Camassia quamash subsp. azurea – small camas Camassia quamash subsp. breviflora – small camas Camassia quamash subsp. intermedia – small camas Camassia quamash subsp. linearis – small camas Camassia quamash subsp. maxima – small camas Camassia quamash subsp. quamash – common camas Camassia quamash subsp. utahensis – Utah small camas Camassia quamash subsp. walpolei – Walpole's small camas Synonyms The superseded name for Camassia quamash subsp. quamash, Camassia esculenta (Nutt.) Lindl., should not be confused with the superseded name Camassia esculenta (Ker Gawl.) B.L.Rob., (nom. illeg.) for Camassia scilloides. Etymology The genus name comes from the Nez Perce Indian name for this plant, and means "sweet". Qém'es, a term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest, and were an important food source for the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). The bulbs are or were harvested and pit-roasted or boiled by women of the Nez Perce, Cree, and Blackfoot tribes. Distribution and habitat 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. 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