General: Perennial herb from an egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, scaly bulb, the outer scales brownish, with a prominent fibrous network, the inner scales white; flowering stems erect, 10-30 cm tall, slender, round in cross-section, smooth.
Leaves: Basal leaves 2 to 3 or more, linear, cylindric, shorter than to about as long as the flowering stem, 1-3 mm wide, smooth, the margins entire; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence an open, terminal umbel of several to many, stalked flowers, above 2 membranous, broadly lanceolate bracts, the stalks 1-3 cm long; flowers rose-pink to whitish, bell-shaped, of 6 distinct tepals, the tepals mostly 10-12 mm long, lanceolate, gradually tapering to pointed tips, the inner 3 with fine-toothed margins, the outer 3 larger, entire, the tips widely spreading to curved back; stamens 6, about 2/3 as long as the tepals; pistil 1, 3-chambered.
Fruits: Capsules, more or less egg-shaped, 3-lobed, with 3 very small, rounded crests; seeds 6 or fewer, dull-black.
Dry rocky bluffs, Garry Oak woodlands and meadows in the lowland and steppe zones; infrequent on SE Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Fraser Valley, north to Lytton and Pemberton; S to NM, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
A very shade-intolerant, montane, Western North American forb distributed equally in the Pacific and Cordilleran regions. Occurs in cool temperate and cool mesothermal climates very dry to moderately dry and nitrogen-medium soils. Its occurrence decreases with increasing latitude, precipitation, and continentality. Scattered in the open and in open-canopy forests on water-shedding sites with shallow soils. Characteristic of moisture-deficient sites.
