Common Name(s): | Brodiaea |
Scientific Name: | Brodiaea terrestris |
Family: | Themidaceae (Brodiaea) |
Plant Type: | Perennial |
Size: | up to 18 inches |
Habitat: | clay soils, grassy meadows |
Blooms: | May to June |
Fire Response: | Seed or Bulb |
Flowers are borne on a stalk that is 8 to 18 inches (ca. 46 cm) long. Several flowers develop in an open umbel at the top of the stalk. The somewhat violet perianth is composed of 3 petals and 3 sepals. You have to look prudently to figure out which are petals and which are sepals — they
are nearly identical in appearance. Together, the sepals and petals form a 1/4-inch, green-and-white funnel shaped tube with 6 violet lobes, each about 1/2 inch (ca. 5 cm) long. In the center are 3 triangular shaped white structures called staminodes (sterile stamens) surrounding a column formed by 3 stamens with yellow anthers and the pistil.This is the only species of Brodiaea that you are likely to find in the Santa Monica Mountains. There are several other plants that are closely related, including Golden-star (Bloomeria) and Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma). These plants grow from corms — underground storage organs — technically called geophytes. Bulbs have layers (like onions) but Corms are solid. They are round and have a basal plate like a bulb, but are flatter. When corms become exhausted, energy from the growing leaves and stem can be used to create a new corm.
Fire Response: Brodiaea is generally withered back to the ground by the beginning of the fire season, and fires do not usually affect the underground corm. The following spring, the plant sprouts again from the corm as expected.
Name Changes: Brodiaea was once considered to be in the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), but was moved into the Lily family (Liliaceae). Now botanists have placed it into the new Brodiaea family (Themidaceae).
Meaning of the Name: ; filifolia refers to the narrow leaves, and comes from the Latin filum, “thread”, and folium, “leaf”.Link to Calfora.net - the best source of this fascinating information!Brodiaea — fis named after James Brodie (1744-1824), a Scottish botanist
terrestris — in Latin means "on land"
Contributed by George Sherman