Cousin Connie is amused by the bouquet, Mushu, not so much. This is the most Camas I've seen when I've traveled to Idaho; it was so exciting. The color is so intense. Camas grows in moist meadows and along stream banks. They bloom from the middle of April to the middle of June, depending on altitude.

Camas probably played a more significant role in early western history than any other plant. It was a chief vegetable diet of Indians in the Northwest as well as trappers and early settlers. Camas was used extensively by the Lewis & Clark expedition and, at times, they were entirely dependent on it as food. The need of this plant enticed Chief Joseph and the Nez Perces to leave the reservation to collect them. This infraction instigated the Chief Joseph War. Father DeSmet referred to the Camas as the "queen root of this clime."