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LILIACEAE

LILY FAMILY

Dale W. McNeal, except as specified

Perennial to trees, from membranous bulb, fibrous corm, scaly rhizome, or erect caudex
Stem generally underground
Leaves generally basal, often withering early, alternate, generally ± linear
Inflorescence various, generally bracted
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial; perianth often showy, segments generally 6 in two petal-like whorls (outer sometimes sepal-like), free or fused at base; stamens 6 (or 3 + generally 3 ± petal-like staminodes), filaments sometimes attached to perianth or fused into a tube or crown; ovary superior or inferior, chambers 3, placentas generally axile, style generally 1, stigmas generally 3
Fruit: generally capsule, loculicidal or septicidal (berry or nut)
Genera in family: ± 300 genera, 4600 species: especially ± dry temp and subtropical; many cultivated for ornamental or food; some TOXIC. Here includes genera sometimes treated in Agavaceae, Amaryllidaceae, and other families.

DICHELOSTEMMA

Glenn Keator

Perennial from spheric, fibrous-coated corm; cormlets generally sessile
Leaves basal, 2–5, narrowly lanceolate, generally keeled, entire, glabrous, sometimes withered by flower
Inflorescence umbel- or raceme-like, generally dense (pedicels < flower); axis generally curved to twining, cylindric; bracts 2–4, ± papery
Flower: perianth tube cylindric to bell-shaped, lobes 6 in 2 petal-like whorls; staminodes generally 0 (stamen-like in 1 sp.); stamens 3 (6 in 1 sp.), filaments fused to perianth and into a crown-like tube, free filaments generally ± 0, anthers attached at base; style 1, stigma 3-lobed
Fruit: capsule, generally not stalked, generally ovoid, 3-angled, loculicidal
Seeds sharply angled, black
Chromosomes: n=9
Species in genus: 5 species: w US, especially n CA
Etymology: (Greek: toothed crown, from stamen appendages)
Reference: [Keator 1992 Four Seasons 9:24–39]

Native

D. capitatum (Benth.) A.W. Wood

BLUE DICKS

Cormlets sessile and on stolons
Leaves 2–3, 10–40 cm, barely keeled
Inflorescence head- or umbel-like, dense; axis < 65 cm; bracts widely lanceolate, whitish to dark purple; flowers 2–15
Flower: perianth blue, blue-purple, pink-purple, or white, tube 3–12 mm, narrowly cylindric to short-bell-shaped, lobes generally ascending, 7–12 mm; stamens 6, crown segments 4–6 mm, deeply notched, lanceolate, white, angled inward, slightly reflexed at tip, outer filaments wider at base, outer anthers 2–3 mm, inner free filaments ± 0, inner anthers 3–4 mm; ovary sessile, style 4–6 mm
Ecology: Open woodlands, scrub, desert, grassland
Elevation: 0–2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: California
Distribution outside California: to Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, n Mexico
Synonyms: Brodiaea pulchella (Salisb.) Greene; D. p. (Salisb.) A. Heller
Variable; subspp. intergrade.

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