PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Asparagaceae FAMILY

Camassia scilloides

Camassia scilloides

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

Camassia bulbs have long been an important food staple for native North Americans, especially in the Pacific Northwest of N. America, where the bulbs were dug and traded on large encampment meadows. However, the plants are superficially similar to the poisonous species of Zigadenus (known as ‘death camas’) and so great care should be taken in making a positive identification[1, PFAF].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Succeeds in almost any soil[2]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a rather heavy loam[3] that has plenty of moisture in spring but does not remain wet over the winter[4, 5]. Dislikes dry soils[5]. Tolerates partial shade[4, 5]. Plant bulbs 7 - 10cm deep in early autumn and then leave them undisturbed.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[6]. The seed can also be sown in a cold frame in spring[6]. It usually germinates in 1 - 6 months at 15°c, but it can be erratic[4]. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not need to be thinned and allow the seedlings to grow on undisturbed for their first year. Give an occasional liquid feed to ensure that the plants do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants are dormant in late summer, pot up the small bulbs putting 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another one or two years in a cold frame before planting them out when dormant in late summer. Offsets in late summer. The bulb has to be scored in order to produce offsets. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Camassia+scilloides>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  2. [2]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  7. [7]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  8. [8]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. — Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. · Van Nostrand Reinhold · 1982 · ISBN 0442222009 ↩︎Very readable.
  10. [10]An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada — Britton. N. L. Brown. A. · Dover Publications. New York. · 1970 · ISBN 0-486-22642-5 ↩︎Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.
  11. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎