Week 8 – White and Purple Camas

In May, the hills and Garry Oak meadow around Victoria are purple with blooms of common camas flowers, Camassia Quamash. However, among the purple flowers, there are occasional stems of white. This flower, called Death Camas or Anticlea Elegans, is highly poisonous. Both the flowers and leaves of the plant are toxic. Grazing animals sometimes consume it, and even small quantities of the plant can cause vomiting, tremors, weakness, loss of control over body functions, coma, and death.

Poisoning of humans is more common when the bulb of the plant is consumed. Purple camas were propagated by First Nations people in this area as a valued food source. After the annual bloom, the bulbs were dug and roasted at low heat in an earthen oven for up to 12 hours. They have a sweet pear or fig-like taste. The difficulty in harvesting the bulbs arises from the fact that the bulb of the white camas is identical to that of the purple camas when it is not in flower. Therefore, First Peoples would tend the camas meadows during the spring flowering and remove any white-flowered plants to prevent water poisoning. Anyone planning on sampling this local delicacy should ensure they have harvested bulbs from a certain or reputable source.