Triteleia grandiflora


Triteleia grandiflora is a species of flowering plant known by the common names largeflower triteleia, largeflower tripletlily and wild hyacinth. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to extreme northern California, eastward into Idaho, Montana and northern Utah, with disjunct populations occurring in Wyoming and Colorado. Its habitat includes grassland, sagebrush, woodlands, and forests. It is a perennial herb growing from a corm. It produces two or three basal leaves up to 70 centimeters long by one wide. The inflorescence arises on a smooth, erect stem up to 75 centimeters tall and bears an umbel-like cluster of many flowers. Each flower is a funnel-shaped bloom borne on a pedicel up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The flower may be up to 3.5 centimeters long including the tubular throat and six tepals each just over a centimeter long. The inner set of three tepals are somewhat ruffled and broader than the outer tepals. The flower corolla may be deep blue to almost white with a darker blue mid-vein. There are six stamens with purple or yellow anthers.
The corm provides food for various wild rodents and livestock, and Native Americans and settlers found them edible as well.