About Odontostomum hartwegii Torr.
Odontostomum is a monotypic genus of flowering plants that contains only one species: Odontostomum hartwegii Torr., which is commonly known as Hartweg's doll's-lily. Under the APG III classification system, this species is placed in the family Tecophilaeaceae; it was formerly classified in Liliaceae. This wildflower is endemic to northern California, where it occurs in the inner coastal mountain ranges and the Sierra Nevada foothills. It grows in rocky clay, often serpentine, soils within grassland and woodland habitat, and is sometimes found near vernal pools. This plant is a perennial herb that grows from an oval-shaped corm up to 3 centimeters wide that sits deep in the soil. Its curving, widely branching stem reaches a maximum height of about half a meter, with linear leaves up to 30 centimeters long that sheath the lower portion of the stem. The inflorescence is a raceme or panicle that holds several flowers attached to pedicels. Each flower has six white or yellowish tepals, whose lower parts are fused into a veined tube, with tips that spread out before becoming reflexed. At the center of the flower are six stamens and six staminodes arranged in a ring around the gynoecium.
