Dipterostemon capitatus

$12.80

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Description
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Blue dicks

Blue dicks are a herbaceous perennial wildflower that grow from an underground corm. Two to three long, thin leaves emerge in spring before the purple flowers, which can reach 2′ tall. Space 3-6″ apart. Native across much of CA west of the Sierras.

Great choice for adding spring color to a meadow garden. Pairs well with buttercups, soap plant and purple needlegrass. Blue dicks feed numerous native bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds.

Indigenous Californians used digging sticks to gather these corms, which were an important staple starch. Traditional gathering sites were visited yearly, and stewarded by families.

Lifeform: Bulb, Perennial

Sun: Full Sun, Part Shade

Water: Dry, Light, No summer irrigation

Soil: Clay, Loam, Rocky, Sand

Other: Attracts Bees, Attracts Butterflies, Drought Tolerant

Container	D-16-O, D-16
Ecological Value	Provides food for native bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and hummingbirds. Blue dicks are a common post-fire succession species in chaparral habitats.
Ethnobotanical Uses	Flowers and bulbs are traditional foods of indigenous Miwok, Cahuilla, and Ohlone people. Bulbs like these were cultivated by families with cultural burning, brush clearing, digging and dividing.
Distribution	Found on plains and hillsides, from Douglas County, Oregon to lower California, and east to southern Utah and northern Arizona.
Elevation	0-7545'
Habitat	Plains and hillsides
Communities	Creosote Bush Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, wetland-riparian, Yellow Pine Forest