Orcutt's brodiaea

Brodiaea orcuttii is a perennial geophyte, storing nutrients and water throughout the dormant season in its corm. The dormant season begins in early summer and ends in late fall, and the stored starch within the corm allows the leaves and roots to rapidly develop once dormancy is broken with the first significant fall rains. There are about 1-6 linear leaves that emerge from the corm during the growing period. The leaves are withered by the time the plant is in flower. Mature plants also produce cormlets during the winter growing season. Flowering occurs from April to July, producing a slender scape 8–25 cm (3.1–9.8 in) tall. The flowers are attached to the inflorescence on pedicels ≤6 cm (2.4 in) long. The flowers have a violet perianth measuring 17–32 mm (0.67–1.26 in) large, with a funnelform tube 4–10 mm (0.16–0.39 in) long. The perianth lobes are spreading, with the inner lobes 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide and the outer lobes 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) wide. The lobes measure 12–19 mm (0.47–0.75 in) long. Brodiaea orcuttii is conspicuous among the genus as it is the only species to lack staminodes. The stamen consists of filaments 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long topped by anthers 4–6.5 mm (0.16–0.26 in) long. The anthers are linear in shape and have a v-shaped notch at their tip. …