Triteleia

Taxobox
name = Tripletlilies

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = Ithuriel's Spear ("Triteleia laxa")
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Asparagales
familia = Themidaceae (but see text)
genus = "Triteleia"
genus_authority = Douglas ex Lindl.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = 15-20, see text.
synonyms ="Hesperoscordium"
"Themis"
"Tritelia"

The tripletlilies are the genus "Triteleia" of monocotyledon flowering plants.

The tripletlilies are native to western North America, from British Columbia southwards, with the ranges of some species reaching to Guatemala. However they are most common in California. They are perennial plants growing from a fibrous corm, roughly spherical in shape. They get their name from the fact that all parts of their flowers come in threes.

Taxonomy and systematics

The systematics of this genus are problematic in two ways.

First, different current systems place the genus in three different families. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group place it in family Asparagaceae or optionally in the possibly distinct Themidaceae. Many other modern authors place it in the family Alliaceae. All these families are in the order Asparagales. However, older but still widely used sources such as ITIS place the Tripletlilies in the family Liliaceae, in the order Liliales.

The second difficulty is taxonomical;some common species that are now placed in genus "Triteleia" were formerly placed in genus "Brodiaea", and as a consequence "brodiaea" has been incorporated into their common names. About 15-20 species are currently recognised in "Triteleia", with several of them having well defined subspecies or varieties that have different common names.

*"Triteleia bridgesii" – Bridges' Brodiaea
*"Triteleia clementina" – San Clemente Island Tripletlily
*"Triteleia crocea" – Yellow Tripletlily
**"Triteleia crocea" var. "crocea"
**"Triteleia crocea" var. "modesta"
*"Triteleia dudleyi" – Dudley's Tripletlily
*"Triteleia grandiflora" – Largeflower Tripletlily, Wild Hyacinth
**"Triteleia grandiflora" var. "grandiflora"
**"Triteleia grandiflora" var. "howellii"
*"Triteleia guadalupensis"
*"Triteleia hendersonii"
**"Triteleia hendersonii" var. "hendersonii" – Henderson's Tripletlily
**"Triteleia hendersonii" var. "leachiae" – Leach's Tripletlily
*"Triteleia hyacinthina" – White Tripletlily, Hyacinth Brodiaea, Fool's Onion
*"Triteleia ixioides" – Prettyface
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "anilina"
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "cookii" – Cook's Prettyface
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "ixioides" – Golden Brodiaea
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "scabra"
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "unifolia"
**"Triteleia ixioides" ssp. "uniofolia"Verify source|date=October 2007
*"Triteleia laxa" – Ithuriel's Spear, Grassnut
*"Triteleia lemmoniae" – Oak Creek Tripletlily
*"Triteleia lilacina"
*"Triteleia lugens" – Coast Range Tripletlily
*"Triteleia montana"
*"Triteleia peduncularis" – Longray Tripletlily
*"Triteleia unifolia" – Oneflower Tripletlily
*"Triteleia versicolor" – Pinto Tripletlily

References

* [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Triteleia Jepson treatment]
* [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/welcome.html Angiosperm Phylogeny Group website]