Dichelostemma congestum

Fork-toothed ookow

Family: Themidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Fork-toothed ookow is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, and San Francisco Bay Area in open woodland and grassland at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces blue-purple flowers in dense raceme-like clusters with narrow-ovoid perianth tubes and distinctive crown lobes. Growing with tall scapes 30 to 90 centimeters high that are slightly rough-textured, it emerges from glaucous leaves that are keeled and 4 to 35 centimeters long. Its pale purple to green bracts subtend flowers with ascending lobes, and the plant's crown is narrow-lanceolate with a deep notch. The flowers feature a unique crown that leans away from the anthers, creating an intricate architectural display.

Habitat: Open woodland, grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n SN, SnFrB

California counties: Contra Costa, Shasta, Santa Clara, Trinity, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Tehama, Humboldt, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Colusa, Sonoma, Lassen, Butte, Alameda, Sacramento, El Dorado, Lake, Del Norte, Glenn, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Calaveras, San Diego, Kern, Madera, Orange, Sierra, Yolo, Placer

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