Toxicoscordion micranthum

Small flowered star lily

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Small flowered star lily is a California native perennial found in northwestern California on dry slopes and flats at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white flowers with distinctive perianth parts 3 to 8 millimeters long, arranged in a generally spreading panicle. Growing 15 to 50 centimeters tall with scabrous stems, it emerges from a dark brown to black bulb 10 to 25 millimeters in diameter. Its leaves are less than the stem height and 4 to 10 millimeters wide, with green to white-membranous bracts 5 to 40 millimeters long. The flower's inner perianth parts are clawed, with a distinctive glandular dentate margin.

Habitat: dry slopes, flats

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NW

California counties: Mendocino, Humboldt, Glenn, Tehama, Del Norte, Colusa, Lake, Trinity, Napa

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