[pbs] Brodiaea californica

Mary Sue Ittner msittner at mcn.org
Fri Jul 2 02:05:53 EDT 2004


Dear John,

Our wiki page is a good reference:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pbs/pbswiki/index.php/Brodiaea

Brodiaea californica is the tallest Brodiaea. californica is the species 
name, not a cultivar name and most authorities now place this genus in the 
Themidaceae family.  It is usually lavender or violet, but occasionally 
pink or white. Telos sells a purple and a pink form.

Many of our California native bulbs show wide differences in color, height, 
and form of the same species depending on where they originated. Not only 
that, but the same species can bloom at different times as well as there 
must be something in their genetic make-up that determines this.

You can grow the same species from seed collected in different places and 
have plants that look different and bloom at different times.

There is also a smaller version of this plant: Brodiaea californica ssp. 
leptandra

There is good information on growing these plants in the new Wild Lilies, 
Irises and Grasses book edited by Nora Harlow and Kristin Jakob.

Mary Sue



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