Bulbs as a food resource
totototo@telus.net (Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:20:13 PDT)

I once tried the bulbs of Camassia. Whether C. leichtlinii or C. quamash, I
don't know. Steamed them. They had the appearance, texture, and taste of
library paste.

You could survive on them, but it wouldn't be a gourmet's paradise.

PS: one reads that the local Salish Indians rogued out xygadenus from the camas
fields, and many references imply that zygadenus is only distinguishable from
camas by havinga white flower color.

That's nonsense written by people with no first-hand experience. The
inflorescence of zygadenus is unmistakably different from that of camas, and
it's not white anyway: it's a dirty yellow-green. The point of similarity and
possibly lethal confusion lies in the resemblance of the dormant bulbs.

I collected by dinner when it was in flower, btw.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island