Camas

Other names

Camass

Growth habit

Geophyte

Perennation

Long-lived polycarpic perennial

Location

Bioswale Garden

Source of plant

Van Engelen

Description

Spring-flowering bulbous perennial that typically grows on moist slopes and moist mountain meadows west of the Cascades and Sierras from British Columbia to southern California. Linear, strap-shaped leaves, up to 2™ long, typically form a 2™ clump of foliage. Star-shaped flowers are 2-3" wide in upright terminal racemes (20-80 flowers per raceme) open sequentially from bottom to top on stout, naked flowering stems that rise above the foliage clump to a height of 2.5-4™ tall in late spring. Each flower has six showy petal-like dark blue tepals with attractive yellow anthers. Good fresh cut flowers.

USDA Hardiness Zone

3

Special characteristics

food