blue dick flower

Flower Color: Blue, blue-purple, pink-purple, blue-violet or white; inflorescence head or umbel-like structure; 2 to 15 flowers in dense clusters; perianth tube narrowly cylindric, short bell-shaped or short campanulate; stamens 6, smaller 3 on outer perianth parts.

Wetland Indicator: In North America Dichelostemma capitatum has the following wetland designations:
Arid West; FACU.
Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast, FACU.
FACU = Facultative Upland, usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands.
Synonyms: (Dichelostemma pulchellum)

Dichelostemma capitatum has been used for food and traded by southern United States indigenous peoples.

Apache, San Carlos Food, Unspecified; Blue flowers eaten raw.

Apache, San Carlos Food, Unspecified; Bulbs eaten raw or cooked in spring.

Cahuilla Food, Unspecified; Corms eaten raw or cooked.

Kawaiisu Other, Fasteners; Corms rubbed on metate into an adhesive & spread on seed gathering baskets to close the interstices.

Miwok Food, Unspecified; Bulbs steamed in earth oven and eaten.

Paiute Food, Dried Food; Roots dried and stored.

Papago Food, Unspecified; Bulbs eaten raw in spring before other crops appeared.

Pima, Gila River Food, Snack Food; Bulbs eaten primarily by children as snack food.

Pomo, Kashaya Food, Vegetable; Baked or boiled corms eaten like baked or boiled potatoes.
See ethno-botanical uses at Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn.
Leaves: Green; few (2-3) leaves rising directly from the bulbs; leaf blade barely keeled.
U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Flowering Season: February to May

North America & US County Distribution Map for Dichelostemma capitatum.

Southwest Desert Flora Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts Dichelostemma capitatum, Bluedick Scientific Name: Dichelostemma capitatum Common Name: