Type – PERENNIAL (BULB)
Exposure: Sun – Part shade
Moisture: Moist – Dry
Max height: 1 ft
Growing ease: medium
Blooms: Deep plush-purple spikes of star-shaped flowers from April to May.
Use by people: [edible, medicinal] The bulb is an important traditional food for Coast Salish people. They prepared by pit roasting or boiling. Care must be taken not to confuse it with toxic Death Death camas (Zigadenus venenosus) (which has white flowers but similar leaves).
Wildlife value: Provides spring forage for a variety of pollinators.
Care instructions: Keep soil consistently moist during the spring, but can be allowed to dry in the summer. Goes dormant after blooming. Will self-seed but plants take 3-4 years to bloom.
