Authors: Greene  

Botanical Description

Flowering stems 20-45cm in height. Leaves spathulate-ovate, somewhat fleshy, pale green, to 10cm in length, toothed and/or crisped. Flowers five-petalled, up to 2.5cm long, magenta to pink or more rarely white, the tube deep maroon with a yellow band, the stamen cone almost black with yellow anther connectives, in umbels of five to sixteen, spring, earlier under glass. A variable species with several subspecies. Subsp. patulum is the smallest at 5-20cm high, with leaves 2-5cm long and white to rose-purple flowers, 6-15mm , in umbels of one to six. Subsp. sanctarum has leaves 4-6cm long and stems 15-30cm tall, with three to seven flowers l-2cm long, having a yellow spot at the base of each dark anther. Subsp. insulare has leaves 6-18cm long, stems up to 45cm and five to nine flowers, 1-2.5cm long. California, on grassy slopes and flats, chaparell and open woodland in coastal habitats and up to 750m inland. Probably not fully hardy in frosty winters, but a good alpine house species.

a, D. clevelandii; b, D. jeffreyi; c, D. meadia; d, D. pulchellum;