Shooting star for the
flowers also but less romantically called Mosquito
Bills. Perennial; roots fleshy, clustered; leaves in a small flat
rosette; flower-stalk single, leafless,1/2-2ft. tall, ending
in a loose cluster of rose-purple flowers; corolla reflexed
upon its short tube, its long lobes projecting backward;
stamens erect around style (the mosquito's bill). Roots with tiny "rice grain" bulblets which produce new plants; corolla 4- or 5-lobed; stamen-tube purple.
Wooded slopes: Oak Woodland.
February through April.
Source: Spring Wildflowers of the San Francisco Bay Region;
picture from Wild Flowers of Marin.
I'd value your comments. Email me at mike@thoma.com
Last updated 31 Dec, 1995.