Brodiaea pallida
Endangered California-endemic bulbous perennial in the Asparagaceae family bearing pale purple flowers from an underground corm in rocky, seasonally wet creek beds, known from Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties occupying riparian wetlands and threatened by habitat destruction and development
Common Names
Chinese Camp Brodiaea, Chinese Camp Clusterlily
Summary
Chinese Camp brodiaea is a California-endemic, perennial bulbous herb with a clumping growth habit, growing about 8 inches tall, and features a terminal inflorescence to about 20 cm tall bearing pale purple or lilac flowers with white centers, six strongly curving tepals about 1 cm long, and a center of three erect white notch-tipped sterile stamens (staminodes). Blooms May–June.
In cultivation it prefers full sun with low to very low water and well-drained soils, including serpentine, and arises from vernal streambeds in native habitat; it is moderately easy to grow and cold hardy to 15°F; it reproduces vegetatively by cloning and sexually by seed and can be used in containers or for cut flowers. Conservation status includes California Endangered and federally Threatened, with rare plant rank 1B.1, and primary threats are habitat destruction and residential development.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
8 inches
Spread
10-20 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 8a-8b
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally full sun. Tolerates partial sun.
Soil Type
Serpentine soils
Soil Drainage
Moist, poorly drained soils
Bloom Color
Pale purple
Bloom Time
Spring
Foliage Color
Blue, Lavender, Purple, White
Leaf Lifecycle
Deciduous
Growth Rate
Moderate
Seasons of Interest
Spring, Summer
Propagation Methods
Seeds, Division, Offsets, Vegetative cloning
Attracts Wildlife
Attracts butterflies and other pollinators
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- Hoover
- Publication
- Leafl. W. Bot. 2: 129 (1938)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Genus
- Brodiaea