Dipterostemon, formerly known, (since the beginning of time) as dichelostemma aka blue dicks. Blue Dicks were/ are utilized by Ca. Tribes as an excellent food source.
There are pros and cons to weedwhacking. You can spread invasive species like crazy if you weedwhack after seeds have set, and if you dont religiously clean the head before moving to a new site.
The flip side is, if you wait for native species to set seeds, you can increase native stands like crazy too. This new colony in my yard started from two lone blue dicks weedwhacked after setting seeds in 2021. There are now 65-70 new plants.
The second photo is a different meadow, a population of a hundred or so has become closer to 700-800 plants in a few short years. The down side is, weed whacking spread the rattlesnake grass too. Tho pretty, rattlesnake grass is a huge fire hazard, it becomes tinder dry very early in CA. It's also rather crappy forage for critters.
#Dipterostemon#Dichelostemma#BlueDicks #CaNativePlants #InvasivePlants #Weedwhacking#RattlesnakeGrass
t. w. carson
Coho
