Tellima grandiflora

Bigflower tellima

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bigflower tellima is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, northern Central Coast, and San Francisco Bay Area in moist slopes at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces green-white to rose or red fragrant flowers with delicate linear petals in spike-like racemes. Growing 40 to 100 centimeters tall with hairy and sparsely glandular stems emerging from a scaly rhizome, it has an elegant upright form. Its basal and stem leaves are ovate with heart-shaped bases, 2 to 10 centimeters long, featuring shallow lobes and sharp teeth that clasp the stem. The plant produces a capsule fruit with ephemeral petals that add a delicate, shifting color to woodland understories.

Habitat: Moist slopes

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRH, CaRH, n SNH, n CCo, SnFrB

California counties: Mendocino, Humboldt, Marin, Sonoma, Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, Butte, San Luis Obispo, Del Norte, Sierra, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Los Angeles, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Yuba, Nevada, Contra Costa, El Dorado, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Tehama

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