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View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
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Brodiaea elegans is a species of flowering plant in the Themidaceae (Lily or Asparagus) family, cluster-lily genus, known by the common names Harvest Brodiaea and Elegant Cluster-lily. It is native to the mountain ranges of California and Oregon, where it grows in woodlands and meadows. In California it is found in the Coast Ranges, Klamath Range, Central Valley and Sierra foothills. This perennial grows from a corm and produces a stout stemlike flower cluster up to 50 centimeters tall. It bears showy flowers on pedicels up to 10 centimeters long. Each flower has six curving petals up to 3 centimeters long in shades of bright purple. In the center of the flower are white or pale purple sterile stamens known as staminodes; these are flat with pointed or toothed tips and between one half and one centimeter in length. Next to these are the fertile stamens topped with large anthers. In Northern California, Brodiaea elegans is one of the later blooming wildflowers, often seen in May and having a very long flowering season.
Perennial herb, Geophyte
2 ft Tall
6 in Wide
Upright
Blue, Lavender, Purple, White
Spring, Summer
Containers
Full Sun, Partial Shade
Low, Very Low
Moderate
Medium, Slow
Does well in clay soil but can also tolerate garden soil.
Usually obtained by buying commercially available corms. For propagating by seed: No treatment. Plants from seed require 2-3 years to flower. To expand a population in your garden, dig mature corms in the fall and carefully divide the offset corms.
Open grassy places, meadows, and clearings in woodlands and forests
Foothill Woodland, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest
Use with other geophytes such as wild onion (Allium hyalinum or peninsulare) or Yellow Mariposa Lily (Calochortus luteus). Also with annuals or herbaceious perennials such as Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis or vestita), Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta), Clarkia (Clarkia purpurea or unguiculata), Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterphylla), Royal Larkspur (Delphinium variegatum), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Tricolor Gilia (Gilia tricolor), Lupine (Lupinus spp.)