Dichelostemma ida-maia

Firecracker flower, Firecracker Flower

Family: Themidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Firecracker flower is a California native perennial found in northwestern California in forest edges and grasslands at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces distinctive red and yellow-green flowers with nodding blossoms featuring a cylindric red perianth tube and recurved yellow-green lobes. Growing with a tall scape 30 to 100 centimeters high, it forms an open umbel-like inflorescence with lanceolate reddish bracts. Its leaves are 3 to 5 per plant, measuring 30 to 50 centimeters long, appearing glaucous and keeled. The flower's unique red tubular shape with white-edged crown and sac-like swellings on the lower third gives it a distinctive, almost firecracker-like appearance.

Habitat: Forest edges, grassland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NW

California counties: Humboldt, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Del Norte, Los Angeles, Lake, Trinity, Shasta, San Bernardino, Contra Costa, Napa

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