harvest brodiaea

Brodiaea elegans is a perennial that produces a stout stemlike inflorescence up to 50 centimeters tall. It bears showy flowers on pedicels up to 10 centimeters long. Each flower has six curving tepals up to 3 centimeters long in shades of bright purple. In the center of the flower are white or pale purple sterile stamens known as staminodes; these are flat with pointed or toothed tips and between one half and one centimeter in length. Next to these are the fertile stamens topped with large anthers. In Northern California, Brodiaea elegans is one of the later blooming wildflowers, often seen in May.