Uncialle grew up with Death Camas, also known as Zygadenus
venenosus, blooming all over the beloved Fourhills where she roamed as a
child. A lovely white member of the lily family, Death Camas grows wild on
meadows and hillsides in much of the Intermountain West.
Uncialle's great-grandfather homesteaded on Camas Prairie, a
fertile high valley in south-central Idaho. In May, the valley floor turned blue
with sheets of Camas Lily flowers. The Camas Lily has much larger flowers than
Death Camas. Ten to thirty inches deep in the soil, each Camas Lily originates
from a starchy, nutritious bulb like a small onion. These bulbs were a staple
food of the Shoshoni-Bannock Indians, who dug the bulbs each year--but only when
the Camas Lilies were in bloom. The Indians dug Camas Lily bulbs by following a
blue-flowered stem down into the earth until an attached bulb was found. If the
stem broke, or the attention of the digger wavered, the consequences could be
deadly. Among the bright blue Camas Lilies grew a scattering of Death Camas,
like points of ice in a blue sea. Death Camas bulbs bring death to those who eat
them. Uncialle's grandmother's eyes were brilliant blue like Camas Lilies, and
so her parents named her "Lily." Lily was the one who taught Uncialle about
Death Camas. Lily loved wildflowers; she lived nearly a hundred years, 80 of
them married to Uncialle's grandfather.
Each year Uncialle grows blue flowers to honor Lily, and to remember her
clear blue eyes. All my friends, beware white Death Camas, but enjoy
its flowers, for to be beautiful the world must have things bright and
dark.
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