Golden Brodiaea

Prettyface, Golden Star
Triteleia ixioides ssp. ixioides
NATIVE – CA ENDEMIC

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Monocotyledon
  • Monocots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Brodiaea Family (Themidaceae)
• Perennial herb
  • Grows from a corm (a short, solid underground stem)
• Leaves
  • Basal, linear, grasslike (to 16 in.)
  • Generally with a prominent longitudinal ridge (keeled)
  • May wither before the plant blooms
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is an open umbel (a spoke-like flower cluster with stalks radiating from a single point) at the end of a long, leafless stalk (scape)
  • Individual flowers have 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals, fused into a tube with spreading tips
    • Tepals have dark midveins
  • 6 stamens (male flower parts), with cream or yellow (or sometimes blue) anthers, attached at 1 level, of unequal height
    • Filaments (stamen stalks) yellow, forked
• Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is a capsule (a dry multi-chambered fruit that splits open at maturity)
• Height to 31 in.

Distribution

• Native and endemic (limited) to California
• Grows in pine forests, foothill woodlands, grasslands
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Grows at elevations to 5,900 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Attracts native bees, bumblebees, beetles, moths, and butterflies for nectar and pollen
    • Beetles in the family Cleridae have been recorded visiting these plants (Pacific Bulb 2025)
    • Nonnative Mediterranean katydids (Phaneroptera nana) have been observed on these flowers at Edgewood
  • Corms are eaten by mammals
• Native people
  • Ate the corms boiled, steamed, roasted, or baked in earthen ovens (Anderson 2005)
  • See Brodiaea family for more details about how Native people actively managed edible geophytes

Name Derivation

• Triteleia (tri-tel-EE-a) – from the Greek tri, meaning “three,” and teleios, “perfect,” referring to floral parts in 3’s
• ixioides (ik-see-OY-deez ) – from the Latin for “like Ixia” (a genus in the iris family)

Notes

• Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, and rhizomes) are adapted to survive fire, our Mediterranean climate’s long, dry summers, and extended droughts
  • Above-ground growth dies back after flowering, while underground the plant survives with stored water and nutrients
• Edgewood’s golden brodiaea is classified as a subspecies
  • Subspecies indicates a geographically separated population with distinct morphological characteristics; when not isolated, interbreeding is possible
  • Variety indicates a population with small morphological variations, e.g. color, seen throughout the geographic range of the species; interbreeding is possible
  • In practice, botanists have not consistently applied these ranks
• One of 9 Brodiaea family members found at Edgewood
  • An extraordinary representation for a small preserve (467 acres)!
  • Only 10 Brodiaea species occur in the entire Santa Cruz Mountains bioregion (approx. 900,000 acres)
• Previously in the Lily family
• Check out this short video (Jepson 2020) for an overview of Triteleia or this longer video (Clayton 2022) at 39 minutes for ID tips

At Edgewood

• Found in woodlands, along the Edgewood trail
  • See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
• Flowers May-June

Specific References

Clayton, R. 2022, Apr. 1. Triplet lilies, ookows, and blue dicks: Tips for identifying Brodiaeoideae [Video]. Fire Followers Spring Training [Webinar]. California Native Plant Society. YouTube.

Jepson Herbarium. 2020, Oct 1. Themidaceae (Brodiaea, Dichelostemma, Dipterostemon, and Triteleia) [Video]. The Jepson Videos: Visual Guide to the Plants of California. The Regents of the University of California. YouTube.

Langley, S. 2011, May 19. A profusion of pretty face. Sierra Foothills Garden.

Pacific Bulb Society. 2025, Sep. 9. Triteleia species two. Pacific Bulb Society Wiki.  

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charter, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meaning and Derivations.

Charter, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G. and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.