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camas
[< Chinook Jargon < Nootka kamas sweet]
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:commas, kamass
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a plant of the hyacinth family having blue flowers and a nutritious white bulb, used as a staple food by the Indians of the western prairies (Camassia hyacinthina) and of the Pacific coast (Camassia quamash).
Quotations
1811
Kamass, a white root, of a slight bitter taste which becomes a favorite, and is agreeable to the stomach. . . .
1923
In due season they went out with long crooked sticks and dug for the camass--the queen of the wild root family in the Creston country. . . .
1958
The Indian name . . . meant "place for gathering camas," a vegetable resembling an onion but tasting like a potato.