Triteleia grandiflora
Encyclopedia
Triteleia grandiflora is a species of flowering plant
known by the common name largeflower triteleia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
to northern California
, with disjunct
populations occurring in Wyoming
and Colorado
. Its habitat includes grassland
, sagebrush
, woodlands, and forests. It is a perennial herb growing from a corm
. It produces two or three basal leaves up to 70 centimeters long by one wide. The inflorescence
arises on a smooth, erect stem up to 75 centimeters tall and bears an umbel
-like cluster of many flowers. Each flower is a funnel-shaped bloom borne on a pedicel
up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The flower may be up to 3.5 centimeters long including the tubular throat and six tepal
s each just over a centimeter long. The inner set of three tepals are somewhat ruffled and broader than the outer tepals. The flower corolla may be deep blue to almost white with a darker blue mid-vein. There are six stamen
s with purple or yellow anthers.
The corm provides food for various wild rodent
s and livestock
, and Native Americans
and settler
s found them edible as well.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
known by the common name largeflower triteleia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with disjunct
Disjunct distribution
In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but widely separated from each other geographically...
populations occurring in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Its habitat includes grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
, woodlands, and forests. It is a perennial herb growing from a corm
Corm
A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
. It produces two or three basal leaves up to 70 centimeters long by one wide. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
arises on a smooth, erect stem up to 75 centimeters tall and bears an umbel
Umbel
An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
-like cluster of many flowers. Each flower is a funnel-shaped bloom borne on a pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The flower may be up to 3.5 centimeters long including the tubular throat and six tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
s each just over a centimeter long. The inner set of three tepals are somewhat ruffled and broader than the outer tepals. The flower corolla may be deep blue to almost white with a darker blue mid-vein. There are six stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s with purple or yellow anthers.
The corm provides food for various wild rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
, and Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
and settler
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
s found them edible as well.