DCHP-2
camas commas, kamass [< Chinook Jargon < Nootka kamas sweet] DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
THIS ENTRY MAY CONTAIN OUTDATED INFORMATION, TERMS and EXAMPLES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).
- 1811 (1916) 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.
- 1811 (1916) Kamass, a white root, of a slight bitter taste which becomes a favorite, and is agreeable to the stomach. . . .