Triteleia grandiflora

First overview block: Scientific Name, Synonyms, Family, English Names, Other Names

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Brodiaeoideae
Genus: Triteleia
Species: T. grandiflora

Description

General: Scapose perennial from a scaly, deep-seated corm.
Leaves: Leaves 1-2, flat but keeled beneath, 3-10 mm. broad, 2.5-5 dm. long, not withering by flowering.
Flowers: Flowers several in an open umbel, the pedicels 1-5 cm. long; tepals 6, deep blue to almost white, the tube 7-12 mm. long, the segments of equal length with deeper blue mid-veins; outer series plane, broadly lanceolate, inner series broader, more or less ruffled; fertile stamens 6, the filaments unequally inserted or unequal in length, about as broad as long or much broader than long; anthers 2-3 mm. long, yellow to blue.
Fruit: Capsule sub-terete, 6-grooved, with a stipe about half as long

Bloom Period

Distribution

Distributed on both sides of the Cascades in Washington; British Columbia south to Oregon, east to Montana.

Habitat

Ecological Setting

Coastal grassy bluffs and prairies to sagebrush desert and ponderosa pine forests.

Soil Texture

Medium textured soils

Nutrients

Medium fertility requirement

Soil Reaction / Salinity

pH, Minimum 6.0 pH, Maximum 7.5;
no salinity tolerance

Moisture Regime

Medium drought tolerance

Shade Tolerance

Intermediate

Uses

Wildlife

Low palatability for browsing or grazing animals;

First Nations

Corms eaten steamed or roasted; corms put in medicine bag to make more potent; used medicinally