Indian Camas or Indian hyacinth / Camassia quamash, Vendovi Island, Washington.

Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) blooms with a blue flower on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America. Its flowers bloom in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.

Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download

Filename: 1205VE2-006_Vendovi-Island.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 5000x4151 / 4.4MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Magnoliophyta Plantae angiosperms bloom blossom coast flowers ocean plants sea water plants flowers agriculture
Contained in galleries: Washington Islands: Lummi, Vendovi. Bellingham., Human impacts on world ecosystems

Indian Camas (Camassia quamash) blooms with a blue flower on Vendovi Island, Skagit County, Washington, USA. The Indian Camas (or Indian hyacinth or Wild hyacinth, Camassia quamash) is native to western North America. Its flowers bloom in various shades of blue. DNA and biochemical studies by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group have reassigned Camassia from the Lily family to the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. The scientific species name "quamash" is from a Nez Perce term for the plant's bulb, which was gathered and used as a food source by tribes in the Pacific Northwest. On the San Juan Islands, native tribes burned forest to maintain sunny fields for growing this plant. Vendovi Island was named after a Fijian High Chief Ro Veidovi who was brought to North America by the 1841 Wilkes Expedition. The San Juan Preservation Trust, a land trust for conservation in the San Juan Islands, purchased the island in December 2010 from the family of John Fluke Sr. Vendovi Island lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County, between Guemes Island and Lummi Island, in the Salish Sea.