Brodiaea californica

California brodiaea

Family: Themidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California brodiaea is a native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Sacramento Valley, and California Roaring Fork region in grasslands and open woodlands at elevations of 50 to 315 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces violet, lavender, or pink flowers with striking perianth lobes up to 32.5 millimeters long and distinctive recurved tips. Growing with a stout scape 20 to 70 centimeters tall, it emerges from underground corms in open grassy areas. Its flowers feature translucent cylindric tubes and white staminodes with wavy, toothed margins that arc elegantly above the bloom. The delicate flowers have inner perianth lobes 6 to 10.5 millimeters wide, creating an intricate and graceful appearance characteristic of California brodiaeas.

Habitat: Grassland, open woodland, rocky or gravelly soils

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 50-315 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRF, n ScV

California counties: Butte, Tehama, Mendocino, Sonoma, Shasta, Nevada, Mariposa, Amador, Calaveras, Lake, El Dorado, Yuba, Sacramento

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.