Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum) belong to the Themidaceae Family and have a violet or purple flower. After a fire in the chaparral, they are among the most common flowers seen. Blue Dicks can reproduce by both seed and corms, which are an underground part of the stem (and not a true bulb). These corms may lay dormant for up to ten years or more waiting for favorable environmental conditions to flower following a chaparral wildfire. 

To learn more about the Blue Dicks please check out the San Diego Natural History Museum’s San Diego County Plant Atlas.

PHOTO CREDIT: Botany Department, SDNHM