About Triteleia grandiflora Lindl.
Triteleia grandiflora Lindl. is a perennial herb that grows from a corm. It produces two or three basal leaves, which can reach up to 70 centimetres (28 in) long and 1 cm wide. The inflorescence grows from a smooth, erect stem up to 75 cm (30 in) tall, and holds an umbel-like cluster of many flowers that range in color from blue to white. Each flower is funnel-shaped, growing on a pedicel up to 4 or 5 cm long. A full flower can reach up to 3.5 cm long, counting the tubular throat and six tepals that are each just over 1 cm long. The inner set of three tepals is somewhat ruffled and broader than the outer three tepals. The flower corolla can range from deep blue to almost white, with a darker blue mid-vein. There are six stamens that have purple or yellow anthers. The prominent tubular flower throat sets T. grandiflora apart from Triteleia hyacinthina, a related species whose range overlaps that of T. grandiflora.
Triteleia grandiflora is native to western North America. Its range extends from British Columbia to extreme northern California, eastwards into Idaho, Montana, and northern Utah, with isolated disjunct populations found in Wyoming and Colorado. It grows in a variety of habitats, including grassland, sagebrush, woodlands, and forests. The corm of Triteleia grandiflora is eaten as food by various wild rodents and livestock, and both Native Americans and European settlers have also used the corms as an edible food source.
