Pretty face

Flowers of pretty face with six purple-veined tepals

Pretty face (Triteleia ixioides) is a wildflower of southern Oregon and California, which is also known as yellow brodiaea, golden brodiaea and brodiaea lutea [1-7]. Pretty face grows from low to high elevation below timberline. Guides and reports are not very specific about the preferred habitat: riparian communities, open grassy areas as well as dry, rocky or sandy slopes. The plants, shown here, were found between granite slabs next to the trail leading into the Shealor Lakes basin of the Eldorado National Forest in the Sierra Nevada.

Pretty face is easily recognized by its deeply purple veined flowers. When open, a flower shows six yellow, lanceolate petal-like segments—each with a mid-vein. The six stamens of a flower end in creamy yellow or blue anthers. The flowers are arranged in an umbel atop a leafless stalk. The long leaves grow from the base: they look like grass, but typically bend towards the ground.

Pretty face is similar to golden stars (Bloomeria crocea) of southern and Baja California [7]. Both species share features such as veined flowers, flower umbel and grass-like leaves.

Most references classify species of the genus Triteleia as members of the lily family (Liliaceae). The systematics, however, has recently been challenged and one may find pretty face in the family Asparagaceae instead [1].

Blue anthers at the tip of the six
stamens of a pretty face flower

Pretty face umbel with yellow, funnel-shaped flowers

References

[1]	*ITIS Report: Triteleia ixiodes* (W. T. Aiton, Greene)** [www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=505606].
[2]	*Calflora Taxon Report 8158: Triteleia ixiodes* (S. Watson) E. Greene ssp. ixioides, golden brodiaea** [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Triteleia+ixioides+ssp.+ixioides].
[3]	*Jepson Manual: T. ixiodes* (S. Watson) Greene** [ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?8349,8655,8664].
[4]	*USDA Plants Profile: Triteleia ixiodes* (W. T. Aiton) Greene. prettyface** [www.plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TRIX].
[5]	*Flora of North America: Triteleia ixiodes* (W. T. Aiton)** [www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102031].
[6]	Laird R. Blackwell: Tahoe Wildflowers. Morris Book Publishing, LLC, Guilford, Connecticut, 2007, page 73.
[7]	Richard Spellenberg: North American Wildflowers, Western Region. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, Seventh printing, December 2007, page 599 (and golden stars on page 574).

Sierra Nevada Wildflowers

Anderson's thistle
Brown's peony
Crimson columbine
Kelley's tiger lily
Mountain pride
Lobb's buckwheat
White-patched blue lupine

Trailing Ahead

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