Triteleia hendersonii mystery form

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Mon, 19 May 2014 07:09:53 PDT
Hi Travis,

The pictures on the mystery bulbs page certainly 
look like Triteleia hendersonii to me. The 
stamens all look like they are attached at the 
same level (you have to pull the flower apart to 
tell for sure), look equal, flowers have a funnel 
like tube, and it grows in southern Oregon. How 
exciting to have it growing in your yard. The 
other similar Triteleia is T. montana which at 
least for me blooms a lot earlier and has smaller 
flowers and is a mountain flower. From the Flora of North America key:
Perianth 12–17 mm; filaments more than 1/2 as 
long as perianth lobes = T. montana
Perianth 18–26 mm; filaments less than 1/2 as 
long as perianth lobes = T. hendersonii

There is a lot of variation in populations of 
Triteleia, Brodiaea, and Dichelostemma and there 
can be changes in color as they age. So it is fun 
to grow more than one form as you can have blooms 
at different times of the same species. I have 
found them really easy to grow from seed. I have 
both yellow and white Triteleia hendersonii and 
it is one of my favorites so I've started it more 
than once from seed and since I've found it in 
other pots in my raised beds, I suspect that it 
seeded itself in a couple of places. This seems 
to be a very good year for it  for me as I have 
it blooming now in more than one place.

Mary Sue
>It would be nice to get a confirmation on my 
>identification of the species, as I am an 
>amateur. I would also like to share it because 
>it is not a form seen on the wiki.




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