# white brodiaea (*Triteleia hyacinthina*)

The white brodiaea is a beautiful flower that blooms in spring. It has lovely star-shaped petals that can brighten up any garden or meadow!

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Snaps:** 3
- **Habitat:** Grasslands

![white brodiaea](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Triteleia_hyacinthina_0072.JPG&width=800)

Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triteleia_hyacinthina_0072.JPG)

## Appearance

The white brodiaea has delicate, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped flowers that are typically pure white, sometimes with a slight purple or greenish tinge. These lovely blossoms are grouped in a cluster atop a tall, slender, leafless stem, making them look like miniature hyacinths.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Liliopsida
- **Order:** Asparagales
- **Family:** Asparagaceae
- **Genus:** Triteleia

## Interesting facts

- It’s sometimes called 'Fool's Onion' because its corms look like small onions.
- Native Americans ate its delicious corms raw or roasted for a tasty treat!
- The plant can produce tiny 'bulbils' around its main corm to make new plants!
- You might find it growing happily in challenging, nutrient-poor serpentine soils!

## Special abilities

- **Underground Pantry:** White brodiaea stores water and nutrients in an underground corm that helps it survive dry seasons.
- **Pollinator Beacon:** Its clustered flowers create a larger, more visible target, attracting many helpful insect pollinators.
- **Drought Defender:** This plant has adapted to grow in dry soils, using its corm to store resources for tough times.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 10-60 cm
- **Spread:** 10-20 cm
- **Flower Size:** 1-2.5 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Spring_to_summer
- **Edible:** Yes
- **Toxicity:** None
- **Lifecycle:** Perennial
- **Pollination Method:** Insect

## Ecological connections

- **Pollinates:** European honey bee (*Apis mellifera*) — Gathers nectar and pollen
- **Pollinates:** [Yellow-faced bumble bee](https://www.snappit.app/explore/yellow-faced-bumble-bee) (*Bombus vosnesenskii*) — Visits flowers for nectar
- **Eats:** [Botta's pocket gopher](https://www.snappit.app/explore/bottas-pocket-gopher) (*Thomomys bottae*) — Consumes underground corms

## Traits

- [Flowering](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/flowering): Flowering plants are any plants that produce flowers as part of their reproductive cycle.
- [Cluster Flower](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/cluster-flower): Cluster flowers are inflorescences where individual flowers are arranged closely together on a common stem.
- [Spring Blooming](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/spring-blooming): Spring blooming plants produce their flowers during the spring season, often signifying the end of winter and the start of new growth.
- [Colorful](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/colorful): Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.
- [Grassland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/grassland): Grassland habitats are terrestrial biomes dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, supporting a variety of grazing animals.
- [Pollinator Magnet](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator-magnet): Describes plants that are particularly attractive and beneficial to a wide range of pollinating organisms.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

Always look but don't pick flowers, so everyone can enjoy them!

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify white brodiaea?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is white brodiaea?

10-60 cm

### How wide does white brodiaea spread?

10-20 cm

### How big are the flowers on white brodiaea?

1-2.5 cm

### When does white brodiaea bloom?

Spring_to_summer

### Is white brodiaea edible?

Yes

### Is white brodiaea toxic?

None

### What is white brodiaea's lifecycle?

Perennial

## Where to spot

- [Agate Desert](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/agate-desert) — Oregon, US · Nature Reserve
- [Cascades Raptor Center](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/cascades-raptor-center) — Oregon, US · Zoo
- [Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/marshall-gold-discovery-state-historic-park) — California, US · State Park
- [Sooke Mountain Provincial Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/sooke-mountain-provincial-park) — British Columbia, CA · State Park

[View all places to see white brodiaea](https://www.snappit.app/guides/where-to-see/white-brodiaea)

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

---

Source: [White Brodiaea: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-brodiaea)