Dipterostemon capitatus subsp. capitatus

Family: Themidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Blue dicks is a California native perennial found in open areas across diverse habitats including forests, woodlands, scrub, deserts, and grasslands at elevations up to 2,500 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces clusters of blue to purple flowers with distinctive dark purple bracts in compact umbels. Growing with slender stems 15 to 45 centimeters tall, it emerges from a small underground corm that produces multiple daughter cormlets. Its leaves are narrow and grass-like, typically emerging from the base of the plant and withering by flowering time. The flowers feature perianth lobes 7 to 13 millimeters long with truncate bases, creating an intricate and delicate botanical structure.

Habitat: Open areas in forest, woodland, scrub, desert, grassland, on many soils, including serpentine

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: < 2500 m

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