Chlorogalum grandiflorum

Red hills soaproot

Family: Agavaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Red hills soaproot is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills in Placer, El Dorado, and Tuolumne counties, occurring on serpentine outcrops and open shrubby hills at elevations of 300 to 500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces white flowers with a subtle purple midvein, linear and recurved, 15 to 30 millimeters long, emerging from tall inflorescences 30 to 100 centimeters high. Growing with a distinctive bulb 5 to 7 centimeters wide, covered in a reddish-brown membranous coat with delicate outer fibers, it develops ascending branch structures. Its basal leaves are 4 to 12 millimeters wide with distinctively wavy margins, spreading from the base of the plant. The fruit develops as a small capsule 5 to 8 millimeters long, complementing the plant's elegant, sparse structure.

Habitat: Serpentine outcrops, open shrubby or wooded hills

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 300-500 m

Bioregions: n&ampc SNF (Placer, El Dorado, Tuolumne cos.).

California counties: El Dorado, Placer, Tuolumne, Calaveras

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