Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Liliopsida -- monocotyledons

Order: Liliales

Family: Liliaceae -- lily

Common Name: Douglas’ brodiaea, largeflower triteleia

Species Code: TRGRG2, BRDO

Origin: Native in shrub-steppe to open pine forests of eastern Washington and Oregon east to Montana and south to Colorado and Utah.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from a deep-seated ovoid corm, scapose, 30-70 cm tall.

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: prairie, shrub thickets, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: 1-3, flat, linear, keeled, sheathing at the base.

Mature height: 12-28 inches

Flowers: borne on pedicels in an open umbel, perianth tubular-campanulate, blue (rarely white), 2-3 cm long.

Flower color: blue, rarely white

Bloom: May, June

Bloom starts on: early May

Bloom ends on: late June

Fruit: capsule, oblong-ovoid, stipitate; seeds rounded, black.

Characteristics:
Triteleia grandiflora Lindl var. grandiflora is the currently accepted name, although some authorities do not recognize infraspecific taxa, and others confer subspecies status.
Hookera douglasii in Piper & Beattie 1914.
Brodiaea douglasii in Davis (1953), St. John (1963), Hitchcock et al (1969), Hitchcock & Cronquist (1973).
Perennating organ is a corm.
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by offsets of the corm.
Flowers are perfect.
2n = 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, & 56 (Barkworth 1977).
Diploids and polyploids exist. Polyploids produce more cormlets than diploids and usually occupy sites where the soil is unstable. Diploids prefer flatter areas or areas where other vegetation is more dense and flower earlier than polyploids (Barkworth 1977).
Corms are edible.
Fruit is a capsule.
Bears (Craighead et al 1963) and other wildlife eat the corms. Deer browse the foliage.

Comments: White flowered forms may occasionally be found.

Sun requirement: full

Soil moisture: xeric to mesic

Fire: corms probably survive most fires

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: fall

Stratification: extended cold moist

Seed yield: low

Seed harvest: easy

Seed first harvest: 4+ years

Seed cleaning: easy

Planting duration: medium/long

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: small

Seed harvest date: late June

Seed comments: slow to flower, seed production is low.

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: upland perennial native forb

Alternate Genus: Triteleia, Hookera

Propagation:
1 protocol in the Native Plant Network
Pullman WA Plant Materials Center

Other Propagation Information:
Requires 90 to 120 days cold, moist stratification in dark. Germinates at low temperatures during stratification (Nauman 2002).
Reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by offsets of the corm.

Notes: Brodiaea douglasii is interesting when in flower, but does not flower every year. Might do better in a garden setting. Otherwise there is not much to it except a few long, linear leaves which dry up early, and a slender stem which looks like it can barely hold the flower up. Slow to grow from seed and needs to be grown outdoors. Does not survive in the constant warmth of a greenhouse. Plants may also be propagated from offsets of the corm. Flowers in May. Other names include Triteleia grandiflora var. grandiflora, Douglas’ brodiaea, wild hyacinth (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Barkworth, Mary E. 1977. Intra specific Variation in Brodiaea douglasii Watson (Liliaceae). Northwest Science 51:79-90.

Craighead, John J., Frank C. Craighead, and Ray J. Davis. 1963. A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA.

Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, Iowa. 827 pp.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, and Arthur Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Univ. of Washington Press. Seattle, WA.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Nauman, C. 2002. Germination of 12 Palouse Prairie Forbs After Stratification Under Light and Dark Treatments. M.S. Thesis, University of Idaho, Moscow ID.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company. 296 pp.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. Characteristics and Uses of Native Palouse Forbs in Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species description from Flora of North America
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium