Dichelostemma is a genus of North American plants closely related to the genus Brodiaea and sometimes regarded as part of that group.[1]
Dichelostemma is classified in the cluster-lily subfamily within the asparagus family. in the latest Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification (2009). Older sources often placed it in the lily family; earlier versions of the APG classifications used the family Themidaceae.
The genus is native to the North America, especially in northern California, but also east to New Mexico and north to British Columbia and south into northwestern Mexico.[2] [3]
These plants grow from perennial corms that produce a raceme or umbel-like inflorescence. The flowers are bell- or tube-shaped and produce capsules with black seeds. The name, from the Greek for "toothed crown", refers to the stamen appendages.
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dichelostemma congestum (Sm.) Kunth | ookow or fork-toothed ookow. | Canada (BC), United States (WA OR CA) | |
| Dichelostemma ida-maia (Alph.Wood) Greene | firecracker flower | United States (CA OR) | |
| Dichelostemma multiflorum (Benth.) A.Heller | round-tooth snake-lily, many-flower brodiaea and wild hyacinth | United States (CA OR) | |
| Dichelostemma volubile (Kellogg) A.Heller | twining snakelily and twining brodiaea. | United States (CA OR) | |
Dichelostemma capitatum (Benth.) Alph.Wood – blue dicks – has been moved to Dipterostemon capitatus.[5]