Twining snakelily
The only snakelily that climbs. It uses the shrub next to it to get its flowers up into the light.
In brief
Dichelostemma volubile, Asparagaceae.
- Perennial from a corm, summer-dormant
- Endemic to California
- Flowers April to June
- Fruit a capsule
Where it grows
Foothill woodland and chaparral scrub around the Central Valley.
When it blooms
April to June, in a tight head of pink tubular flowers.
Seed and fruit
A capsule. The plant then dies back to its corm and spends the summer underground.
Here
Photographed on May 30, 2023 twining up through a manzanita. The stem is the thing worth noticing: it winds around whatever is next to it, which no other member of the genus does, and it means the flowers appear a meter off the ground on a plant with no woody stem of its own.
By Yggdrasil Springs
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