LARGE-FLOERED TRITELEIA. AKA WILD HYACINTH
GENESIS NAME: Triteleia grandiflora
DISTRIBUTION: WA, ID, MT, OR, CA, WY, AR. SOUTHERN BC
SEASON: Blooms April, May, June & July
MEDICAL USE: NO
POISONOUS: NO
EDIBILITY: The bulb of wild hyacinth is edible, raw or cooked. Having a sweet nut-like flavor, they can be used like potatoes. They are said by some people to be the tastiest of the North American edible bulbs, and are at their best when slow roasted for an hour when they become rather sweet. They were collected for food or medicine by the Thompson tribes among others. They were dug in the spring, along with the bulbs of yellowbells, just before the shoots appeared above ground. The young seedpods can be cooked as a potherb, and is an excellent green.
FEATURES: Pale or deep blue, narrowly bell-shaped flowers bloom in an umbel at the top of a leafless stem that has one or two grass-like basal leaves. The ruffled, petal-like segments make this flower unusual. Howell's Triteleia, (T. howelii), from southern British Columbia to northern Oregon near the Cascade Mountains, has much shorter flower stalks and only slightly ruffled petal-like segments that vary from white to blue.
LEAVES: basal, linear, 1-2, flat but keeled beneath, 3-10 mm broad, mostly 25-50 cm long, not withered at flowering time.
FRUITS:
DISTRIBUTION: WA, ID, MT, OR, CA, WY, AR. SOUTHERN BC
SEASON: Blooms April, May, June & July
MEDICAL USE: NO
POISONOUS: NO
EDIBILITY: The bulb of wild hyacinth is edible, raw or cooked. Having a sweet nut-like flavor, they can be used like potatoes. They are said by some people to be the tastiest of the North American edible bulbs, and are at their best when slow roasted for an hour when they become rather sweet. They were collected for food or medicine by the Thompson tribes among others. They were dug in the spring, along with the bulbs of yellowbells, just before the shoots appeared above ground. The young seedpods can be cooked as a potherb, and is an excellent green.
FEATURES: Pale or deep blue, narrowly bell-shaped flowers bloom in an umbel at the top of a leafless stem that has one or two grass-like basal leaves. The ruffled, petal-like segments make this flower unusual. Howell's Triteleia, (T. howelii), from southern British Columbia to northern Oregon near the Cascade Mountains, has much shorter flower stalks and only slightly ruffled petal-like segments that vary from white to blue.
LEAVES: basal, linear, 1-2, flat but keeled beneath, 3-10 mm broad, mostly 25-50 cm long, not withered at flowering time.
FRUITS:
DESCRIPTION:
Scapose, glabrous perennials from fibrous-coated corms. Scapes erect, 30–70 cm. Leaves 1 or 2, basal, linear, 2–15 mm wide. Inflorescence a terminal umbel subtended by few scarious, lanceolate bracts; pedicels 8–25 mm long. Flowers funnelform, blue; tepals united below into a tube 9–15 mm long, the mouth nearly closed; lobes spreading 7–10 mm long; stamens attached to corolla at 2 levels; anthers blue; ovary stipitate; stigmas 3. Fruit an ovoid capsule 6–12 mm long.
Triteleia grandiflora is a BULB growing to 0.7 m (2ft 4in).
It is hardy to zone (UK) 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to July. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.
Triteleia grandiflora is a BULB growing to 0.7 m (2ft 4in).
It is hardy to zone (UK) 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to July. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.