Ookow :

Fork-toothed Ookow
Dichelostemma congestum
NATIVE

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 (short, solid, vertical, underground stem) with a fibrous outer coat, surrounded by immature cormlets
Leaves
- 2-3 basal leaves
- Straplike, linear to narrowly lanceolate
- Generally with a prominent longitudinal fold (keeled)
- May wither before the plant blooms
Flowers
- Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a dense, headlike umbel (a spoke-like flower cluster with stalks radiating from a single point) at the end of a long, leafless stalk (scape)
  - 6-15 blue-violet, urn-shaped flowers
  - 3-5 pale purple to green, fused bracts (modified leaves) at base fade and become papery with age
- Individual flowers have 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals, fused into a tube with a narrowed waist and spreading tips
  - 3 stamens (male flower parts)
  - Forked, pale-blue winged appendages lean away from the stamens, creating a crown-like tube (corona) surrounding the anthers (pollen-producing parts)
- Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
Fruit is a capsule (a dry multi-chambered pod that splits open)
Height to 35 in.

Distribution

Native to California
- Grows in foothill woodlands and evergreen forest
- See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
Outside California, grows from British Columbia south through Oregon
Grows at elevations to 6,500 ft.

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

Wildlife
- Nectar source for hummingbirds and butterflies, e.g. Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), umber skipper (Lon melane), Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)
- Mammals, from bears and deer to gophers and voles, seek the corms for food
  - Incidental disturbance helps aerate soil and disperse cormlets
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

Dichelostemma (di-kel-oh-STEM-ma) – from the Greek dicha, “bifid,” and stemma, “a garland or crown,” referring to the corona of forked appendages
congestum (kon-JES-tum), from the Latin congestus, “congested or crowded together, “ pertaining to the head-like flower clusters
Ookow – from an unspecified Native people’s language, probably that of a West Coast tribe
- One of just a few California native plants still commonly called by a Native people’s name

Notes

Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or enlarged taproots) are well 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
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)
Taxonomic confusion about the genus Dichelostemma has existed since the early 19th century
- Another Edgewood plant, blue dicks, was previously considered part of this genus
- For an explanation of this genus’s taxonomic designation history and the effect of rivalry between botanists see Preston (2017) and Berg (1996)
Ookows and blue dicks both have a central circle of appendages that form a corona (crown-like tissue between petals and stamens)
- In ookows, the appendages are derived from petal tissue
- In blue dicks, the appendages are widened stamen filaments
Previously in the Lily family

Blue Dicks Corona (L) and Waist (R)
© GGenduso (L), SLindner (R)

Ookow Corona (L) and Waist (R)
© GGenduso (L), SLindner (R)

ID Tips

At Edgewood may be easily confused with blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus)
Check out this short video (Jepson 2020) or this longer video (Clayton 2022) for more ID tips

	Blue Dicks	Ookow
Pedicel¹	negligible (≤ 0.04 in.) — creates a tight, dense cluster	short (≤ 0.2 in.) — creates a slightly open, loose cluster
Bracts²	generally dark purple	pale purple to green
Flowers
Fused Tepals	bell-shaped — does not narrow at opening (no waist)	urn-shaped — narrows at opening (waist)
Stamens³	6	3
Corona⁴	white⁵	purplish
Bloom Time	February – May	April – May

¹ Pedicel: stalk of a single flower
² Bracts: modified leaves at flower base
³ Stamen number cannot be checked without injuring the flower, so please take our word for it!
⁴ Corona: crown-like tissue between petals and stamens
⁵ Check a fresh flower: aged appendages may fade to light purple

At Edgewood

Found in woodlands, especially margins
- See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
Flowers April – May

Specific References

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley.

Berg, R.Y. 1996. Development of ovule, embryo sac, and endosperm in Dipterostemon and Dichelostemma (Alliaceae) relative to taxonomy. American Journal of Botany 83: 790-801. Botanical Society of America.

Blackwell, L.R. 2012. Wildflowers of California – a Month by Month Guide. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Caldwell, J.A. 2014. California Plants as Resources for Lepidoptera: a Guide for Gardeners, Restorationists and Naturalists.

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.

Homer-Smith, B. How to tell blue dicks from ookow. PlantID.net.

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.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 2025. Ookow. Native Plants of North America. University of Texas at Austin.

Nelson, D. 2023, May 29. Dichelostemma congestum (Ookow). 10,000 Things of the Pacific Northwest.

Preston, R.E. 2017, Feb. New nomenclatural combinations for blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus; Asparagaceae: Brodiaeoideae). Phytoneuron 2017: 1-11. ResearchGate.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, 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.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

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