Brodiaea

The origin of the scientific name of the genus is somewhat tangled. Specimens of what is now called Brodiaea were first collected by Archibald Menzies, botanist to the Vancouver Expedition, in 1792. Menzies collected the plant from the vicinity of the Strait of Georgia, named "New Georgia" by George Vancouver. The first published reference to the plant did not give it a name. This was in James Edward Smith's 1807 An introduction to physiological and systematical botany, where Smith used it to argue that the tepals of liliaceous plants are sepals rather than petals:

"I cannot conceal a recent discovery which strongly confirms the opinion of my acute and candid friend. Two species of a new genus, found by Mr. Menzies on the West coast of North America, have beautiful liliaceous flowers like an Agapanthus, with six internal petals besides!"[11]

The following year, early in 1808, Richard Salisbury published a description of the first Brodiaea species in The Paradisus Londinensis, naming it Hookera coronaria, the genus name being in honour of the illustrator William Hooker.[12] Shortly afterwards, Smith named a moss genus Hookeria, and in April 1808, he read to the Linnean Society of London a formal description of a new genus, based on the same species as Salisbury's Hookera coronaria, naming the genus Brodiaea in honour of Scottish botanist James Brodie.[13] Formal publication did not occur, however, until Smith's presentation went to print in 1810. George Boulger, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, says that Smith's actions were deliberately intended to deprive Salisbury of credit for the genus.[14]

If this was Smith's intention it was successful, since although Salisbury's genus name Hookera has priority over Smith's name Brodiaea, names as similar as Hookera and Hookeria are considered to be confusing and a formal proposal to conserve the names Brodiaea and Hookeria over the name Hookera was accepted.[15] Brodiaea is thus a "conserved name" or "nomen conservandum", shown by the abbreviation "nom. cons." after the name in botanical sources. The type species is now Brodiaea coronaria, and the original type, Brodiaea grandiflora Sm., is an illegitimate name.[16]

Brodiaea belongs to a group of 12 genera whose affinities were the subject of much controversy until the end of the 20th century. Salisbury treated them as a family which he named Themidaceae. Others placed this group at lower taxonomic rank and usually included them in Liliaceae, Alliaceae, or Amaryllidaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies confirmed the suspicions of many that this group was misplaced, and consequently, the family Themidaceae was resurrected in 1996.[17] When the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group published the APG II system in 2003, Themidaceae was accepted as an optional family for those who wanted to circumscribe families narrowly in the order Asparagales. When the APG III system was published in 2009, the former Themidaceae was treated as a subfamily, Brodiaeoideae, of the family Asparagaceae sensu lato.[18]

Some sources, such as ITIS, continue to use the polyphyletic groups of obsolete taxonomic systems.[19] Other sources, such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website mostly follow the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.[20]

Brodiaea (or brodeia[21]) is also used as a common name to refer to three genera, Brodiaea, Dichelostemma, and Triteleia. The latter two genera were once included as part of the genus Brodiaea.[22] The monophyly of Brodiaea as presently defined is not entirely certain. It might be intermixed with Dichelostemma.[23]

As of September 2013, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families lists the following 17 species.[3][5][24][25][26] English common names are from the Flora of North America.[8]

1. Brodiaea appendiculata Hoover - appendage cluster-lily - central California
2. Brodiaea californica Lindl. ex Lem. - California cluster-lily - northern California, southwestern Oregon
3. Brodiaea coronaria (Salisb.) Jeps. - harvest cluster-lily; Californian hyacinth - British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, much of California
4. Brodiaea elegans Hoover - elegant cluster-lily - western Oregon, most of California
5. Brodiaea filifolia S.Watson - threadleaf cluster-lily - southern California
6. Brodiaea insignis (Jeps.) Niehaus - Kaweah cluster-lily - Tulare County
7. Brodiaea jolonensis Eastw. - chaparral cluster-lily - southern California, northern Baja California
8. Brodiaea kinkiensis Niehaus - San Clemente Island cluster-lily - San Clemente Island
9. Brodiaea matsonii R.E.Preston - Shasta County
10. Brodiaea minor (Benth.) S.Watson (syn. Brodiaea purdyi Eastw.) - vernalpool cluster-lily - northern California
11. Brodiaea nana Hoover - northern California
12. Brodiaea orcuttii (Greene) Baker - Orcutt's cluster-lily - southern California, northern Baja California
13. Brodiaea pallida Hoover - Chinese Camp cluster-lily - Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties
14. Brodiaea santarosae T.J.Chester - Santa Rosa basalt brodiaea - Riverside and San Diego Counties
15. Brodiaea sierrae R.E.Preston - Butte, Yuba and Nevada Counties
16. Brodiaea stellaris S.Watson - starflower cluster-lily - Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt Counties
17. Brodiaea terrestris Kellogg - dwarf cluster-lily - southwestern Oregon and much of coastal and southern California

formerly included[24]

Numerous other names have been coined using the name Brodiaea, referring to species now regarded as better suited to other genera (Androstephium Beauverdia Dandya Dichelostemma Leucocoryne Nothoscordum Tristagma Triteleia Triteleiopsis).