Blue Dick, Desert Hyacinth

The flowers are clustered in umbel-like heads at the tops of tall, leafless flower stalks. The individual flowers are 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and have 6 petal-like segments. The leaves are green, narrowly linear, and grasslike. The crushed leaves smell like onions. The plants reproduce both by their swollen, onion-like, underground corms (bulbs) and by seed.

Culturally Significant Plant – Native Americans traditionally gathered the corms for food.

Edible – The starchy corms are edible, but the plants are protected (see below), so do not eat them.

Legal Status – The subspecies D. capitatum ssp. pauciflorum is a Protected Native Plant (Salvage Restricted).

http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/983/dichelostemma-capitatum-bluedi…