An awesome, awesome photo - so clear and yet mystical - as in, "I want to go to the foot of those mountains". It draws you in, and yet you could stop at the front row of those beautiful Camas lilies and soak up their impact for awhile.
In the Database - a confusion? The Camas Lily (Camassia quamash) photos look more purple than the Quamash (Camassia), which is also given the common name of Camas Lily.
The Camas Lily that grows wild in the Kootenay Columbia region where I live, is also called the Camas Lily, but goes by the Latin name (Camassia leichtlinnii). It is a lighter blue in colour. The native Indians used the bulb as a food source.
I haven't put any photos of it in the Database, because they are still on film, not digital. I can take some in May, but mine would be of the wild original stock. Only more modern, named varieties are included in the Database.
The white variety, Camassii leichtlinni 'Alba', was known as the Death Camas, and was not edible. It grew wild on our orchard land in the Okanagan.
All of those botanical ramblings aside, I am thrilled that your photo won, Ken. It was certainly at the top of my list.
