Odontostomum is California's one genus in the Tecophilaeaceae family. It has only one species.
Odontostomum hartwegii is native to the sun-baked clay soils of the inner North Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. It has small creamy flowers with petals that sweep backwards and blooms in the spring. From a distance it looks like a small orchid. It is easy to grow in the ground, in raised beds, or deep containers in dry-summer areas. It blooms reliably for me and is charming in its understated way. The first one shows the plants growing in the wild and blooming in Bidwell Park, Chico, California. The next three show garden plants growing in a pot in a raised bed and surrounded by Allium unifolium blooming at the same time. The last is a picture of the corms on a 1 cm square grid. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
