Eastern Camas

Camassia scilloides

Ecology & Conservation

Proximity Score: 2
Native Status: ❌ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ❌ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: SE
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.3 – Atlantic Highlands, 5.3.1 – Northern Appalachians and Atlantic Maritime Highlands
Rarity Notes: SARA Schedule 1 Threatened (listed 2005-12-01). COSEWIC status: Threatened. NatureServe global rank G5 (Secure) but nationally N1 in Canada. In Ontario ranked S1, restricted to a handful of sites in the extreme southwest including Pelee Island and Lake Erie islands. Range in Canada represents the extreme northeastern limit of a broadly distributed eastern North American species.
S26+S22
Rarity Ranks: QC SNA – Not Applicable, ON S1 – Critically Imperiled
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Occupies moist bottomland prairies, river-bottom flats, open woodlands, and woodland edges in the deciduous forest zone of eastern North America. In Ontario, restricted to extreme southwestern areas (Pelee Island, Lake Erie islands) where it occurs on alluvial and calcareous soils in floodplain forests and mesic prairies. A spring-flowering geophyte that goes dormant by mid-summer, completing its lifecycle before canopy closure.
S7+S4+S48

Roles: Fire Retardant, Pollinator Attractor
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fire Retardant: S73 [MEDIUM]: S11 Fire Tolerance = Medium (not definitional)] | Pollinator Attractor: S73 [MEDIUM]: S68 25 bee associations (threshold=3)]

Category: Unspecified
S28 Creek Drug use for unspecified purpose
Notes: Creek Nation used this plant medicinally for an unspecified purpose (Swanton 1928). No other medicinal uses documented. PFAF medicinal rating 0/5.
S28+S29

✅ Edible

Foraging Notes: Bulbs were a staple food for numerous First Nations including Blackfoot, Coeur d'Alene, Okanagon, Spokan, Thompson, Gosiute, and Comanche. Bulbs were roasted in stone-lined pits, boiled, dried for winter storage, or eaten raw. The dried bulb was ground into flour used as a thickener in stews or additive to bread. Bulb approximately 4 cm long and 15 mm wide. PFAF edibility rating 3/5.
S28+S29