Brodiaea elegans subsp. elegans

Harvest brodiaea, Harvest Brodiaea

Family: Themidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Harvest brodiaea is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Rocky Forest, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in grasslands, meadows, open woodlands, and chaparral at elevations up to 2,430 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces violet flowers with ascending perianth lobes 17.5 to 30 millimeters long, creating a distinctive funnel-shaped bloom. Growing with a stout scape 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it emerges from an underground corm with elegant, slender stems. Its leaves are narrow and grass-like, emerging from the base of the plant and remaining inconspicuous during flowering. The flower's intricate structure includes white staminodes held away from the stamens, adding to its delicate and sophisticated appearance.

Habitat: Grassland, meadows, open woodland, chaparral, occasionally serpentine

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: < 2430 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRF, SN (exc Teh), GV, SnFrB, SCoRI, SnBr, PR.

California counties: Mendocino, Fresno, Lake, Nevada, Madera, Mariposa, Humboldt, Del Norte, Tulare, Amador, Butte, Tehama, Trinity, Merced, Tuolumne, Sierra, Marin, El Dorado, Siskiyou, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Colusa, Solano, Stanislaus, Sonoma, San Joaquin, Calaveras, San Bernardino, Napa, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, Placer, Modoc, Sacramento, Alameda, Glenn, Monterey, Plumas, San Benito, San Francisco, Yuba, Sutter, Shasta, San Diego, Yolo

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