Dear All, This week's topic of the week is Dichelostemma. Dichelostemma is a genus with five species including one with two subspecies distributed throughout the western United States, but concentrated in northern California. Once considered a taxonomic section of the genus Brodiaea, it is now considered a distinct genus. Dichelostemma is a perennial from a corm. Leaves are basal, generally keeled, often withered by flowering. Flowers have six tepals that are united at the base in a tube and are formed in an umbel or umbel-like raceme. Dichelostemma is differentiated from Brodiaea by a flowering stem that is generally curved or twisted (not straight), an umbel that is typically dense and not open, and filaments that are crown-like, forming a tube outside the anthers. Dichelostemma is differentiated from Triteleia by having a dense umbel rather than an open one and having 3 stamens instead of 6 and filaments that are crown-like, forming a tube outside the anthers. There is one exception (Dichelostemma capitatum) which has 6 stamens, but it has the crown-like appendages not found in Triteleia. This genus has been considered to be a part of many different families including Alliaceae. In The Jepson Manual (1993) it was classified in Liliaceae. Recent work is now placing it in a new family, Themidaceae, which includes other California genera (Androstephium, Bloomeria, Brodiaea, Muilla, and Triteleia.) Below is information about each of the species. Dichelostemma capitatum (ex. D. pulchellum)--Commonly known as blue dicks, this plant is widespread in California, spilling into Oregon and Baja California from the coast to the foothills and even to the deserts. The Jepson Manual also lists it for Utah and New Mexico. The few leaves are up to one foot (.3 meter) and sometimes more in length, often close to the ground. The one to two foot (.3-.6 meter) flower stems appear from March to May, carrying umbrella-like flower clusters. The bell shaped flowers are ½ to one inch (1 to 2.5 cm.) long, usually lavender to violet, occasionally white or purplish pink, and unlike the other species in this genus have 6 stamens. Unlike Triteleia, which also has 6 stamens, it has forked appendages outside the anthers. The subspecies, Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. pauciflorum (few-flowered blue dicks), occurs in Southern California in and around the desert and is distinguished by fewer flowers, longer pedicels (flower stalks), and lobes that are more spreading than ascending than the more widespread subspecies Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum. Dichelostemma congestum--Commonly know as ookow or congested snake lily this plant is found in meadows and open woods from the San Francisco Bay area north in California into Canada and less commonly in the Northern Sierra foothills and the Northern high Sierra. Leaves are often long and floppy and the flowering stalks are 1-3 ft. (.3-.9 meters) high, blooming from April to June carrying dense, many-flowered clusters. The individual flowers are from ½ to one inch long (1 to 2.5 cm.) and bluish purple in color. The flowering tube is pinched slightly at the top and the filament crown is forked as in Dichelostemma capitatum. Dichelostemma ida-maia--Commonly know as firecracker flower, this species is found at the edges of woods from Mendocino County north to Oregon. It is a plant of the Coastal ranges. It has leaves from one foot to nearly two feet (.3-.6 meters) and stems up to three feet high (.9 meters). The flowers, appearing from May to July, are in open umbels of several pendant, long tubular flowers with a crimson red tube and short green reflexed tips. The three fertile stamens protrude and are light yellow, backed by three rounded crown segments. It is the only species in the genus that is pollinated by birds. Dichelostemma multiflorum--Commonly knows as wild hyacinth, this plant is found in the central and northern Sierra foothills, but also is found in the North Coast ranges and other areas of California and southern Oregon. Its leaves are from 1-2½ feet (.3 to .76 meters) and are not keeled, unlike most of the species in this genus. The flowering stems are about the same length as the leaves. It flowers in May and June in many flowered ball-like umbels of lavender-pink to violet. The filament crown is broad and round and inrolled, white or pale purple, and the tube is very constricted at the throat. Dichelostemma volubile--Commonly known as twining brodiaea or twining snake lily, this plant is found on rocky slopes and flats, usually in chaparral, in the Sierra foothills and down the inner Coast ranges. If you look at a distribution map there is a strip running down the center of the state. The plant has a few sinuous leaves two feet (.6 meters) or more in length, often lying on the ground, and a flower stem which twines around the branches of neighboring shrubs to a height from two up to eight feet (.6 to 2.4 meters). The flowering stem terminates in a tight cluster of numerous, small pinkish flowers. The flowers are a little over a ½ inch long (1.2 cm.), with short fat tubes and spreading free segments. Like Brodiaea this species has three sterile stamens alternating with three fertile stamens with forked appendages. It blooms from April to May. I have added pictures of all the species to the Wiki: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… I have at last mastered how to tell them apart. I have seen quite a few of them when hiking and used to be unsure which was which. D. ida-maia of course is easy since it is red and green and doesn't look like any of the others. D. volubile is pinkish and has very long twinning stems. So that leaves the other three which are similar in color and casually look alike. Dichelostemma capitatum has 6 stamens, when the other two have three but you have to pull it apart to see that. Easier is to look at the tube. The other two have tubes that are constricted at the throat. I had Bob take pictures of the tubes of all three so you can see what I mean. So that leaves D. congestum and D. multiflorum. D. multiflorum is more constricted at the throat but I think it is a bit subtle. D. multiflorum is supposed to be an umbel and D. congestum a raceme, and I have looked at them long but still think they look alike. Much easier is to look at what Glen Keator calls the filament crown, a tube that surrounds the stamens. D. congestum's crown is forked. D. multiflorum's is broad, round, and inrolled. Bob's pictures capture that. This is why you sometimes see the common names for these two listed as Forktooth Ookow and Roundtooth Ookow. I haven't a clue how to pronounce Ookow or what it means although I am sure it is a Native American word. Maybe someone else knows. Since this is getting too long, I'll talk about cultivation tomorrow. I hope everyone who grows this genus will speak up so we can identify where it can be grown. I have added more pictures to the Triteleia Wiki page so if you want to look at how they are different you can access that page from the Dichelostemma page since I have linked them. I hope by the end of our Brodiaea topic everyone who is interested will be able to tell the difference between Brodiaea, Dichelostemma, and Triteleia. I suppose DNA could turn this all upside down. Mary Sue