Dipterostemon capitatus – “Desert Hyacinth”

Also Known As: Purplehead, Wild Hyacinth, Blue Dicks, Covena, Papagolily, Grass Nuts, Brodiaea (or Brodiea or Brodeia)
Other Botanical Names: Dichelostemma capitatum, Dichelostemma pulchellum, Brodiaea lacuna-vernalis, Brodiaea pulchella
Family: Brodiaea (Themidaceae) (until recently was classified as Lily Family, Lilaceae)
Bloom Period: Feb-Apr
Form: Perennial herbaceous herb
Habitat: Gravelly soils, often growing up through shrubs
Leaves: Linear, blade-like, often keeled; basal
Translation: “Dipterostemon” is Greek from “di” which is “two,” plus “ptero” which is “wings” and “stemon” which is “stamen” and refers to the flower’s anatomy; “capitatum” or “capitatus” is Latin for “head,” which describes the way the flowers form a head-like cluster; “Dichelostemma” is Greek for “a garland which is twice-parted to the middle,” which refers to the forked appendages on the stamens; “pulchellum” is Latin for “beautiful,” which this plant still is, even if this isn’t the official name anymore.
Notes: Sprouts from “corms,” which are enlarged, fleshy portions of the stem that grow underground, much like bulbs. Corms produce “cormlets” that become new plants. Corms and cormlets can go dormant for years at a time and re-sprout after a fire has cleared the area of vegetation that was formerly providing too much shade for them. Early European settlers, copying Native Americans, ate the corms and called them “Grass Nuts.”
Native American Uses: Many Native American tribes throughout this plant’s range harvested the corms as an important food source and kept patches productive by replanting corms and cormlets, sowing seeds, and setting controlled burns. In Joshua Tree Country, they were a food crop for the Cahuilla, Luiseño and Paiute. The Kawaiisu made an adhesive from the corms for sealing seed-gathering baskets.