Liliaceae (Bloomeria)
Bloomeria (crocea)
Liliaceae
Lily Family
Bloomeria
crocea
(Torr.) Coville
Common Golden Star
BLOCRO
Catalina Island, California
Common Golden Star is a frequent species found in southern California and on Catalina island. It inhabits chaparral, coastal sage shrub communities and grassy slopes.
plants
seed
Container (plug)
2 inch pots
3 Years
Height: N/A
Caliper: N/A
Root System: Mature bulb with root plug in container.
Seeds are hand collected when seed capsules have fully matured. Seeds are black at maturity. We have collected capsules from mid-June to August. June and July are optimum for seed collection.
Capsules are dried in paper bags in a warm, dry room. We clean the seeds by rubbing dry fruits through a 6/64ths screen, using a rubber coated block to break up seed capsules. We sieve this material through a 1/12 inch screen several times to remove chaff. We use a seed blower at 17 to 18 settings to remove any remaining debris. After seeds have been cleaned, they are stored under refrigeration in air tight glass containers at 40 F and 40% RH.
With 5 collections, average seed weight is 11.5 grams per 100 seeds.
Seeds are directly sown into flats without pre-treatment. Seeds are sown in late January in deep flats using a growing medium of 1:1(v:v)of sand and Sunshine Professional Growing mix.
Flats are watered after sowing and placed in the shadehouse.
The James H. Ackerman Native Plant Nursery is located on Catalina Island off the coast of southern California. From 1993 to 2004, the average maximum and minimum temperatures have been 75.4 F and 46 F, with an average of 361 frost free days per year and annual rainfall of 14 inches.
The facility is comprised of shade houses, mist propagation house, and an outdoor growing compound. All propagation environments are utilized at different stages of seedling growth to provide for the variance in temperature and shading requirements needed during the growing season. We irrigate all containers with an overhead emitter system in the shadehouses and use a drip system or hand water in the outdoor nursery.
Seedls germinate 1 mont after sowing in late February in a shadehouse were they remain for several weeks. Seeded flats are watered with an overhead emitter system as needed.
By April, the young seedlings begin to go dormant for the rest of the growing season and re-emerge in late fall.
3 months
Seedlings require a minumum of 3 to 4 growing seasons to develop sizable bulbs. During year 3, seedlings are transplanted from the flats into 2 inch pots filled with a growing medium of 4:1:1 (v:v:v) peat, perlite, and organic compost. Osmocote time release fertilizer (9 mo release rate) (14 N:14P2O5:14K2O) is incorporated into the medium at a rate of of « cup per .75 cubic yards of medium.
When bulbs begin to go dormant, seedlings are watered only as needed. Bulbs should not be watered regularly while they are in the dormant stage.
4 months per year
Any nursery stock grown under shadehouse conditions are hardened by placing them in full sun exposure for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to outplanting.
2 to 4 weeks
Containerized seedlings are over wintered directly in the open growing compound.
Variable; depends on out planting date.
Herrera, Mike; Takara, Janet. 2006. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Bloomeria crocea (Torr.) Coville plants 2 inch pots; Catalina Island Conservancy Avalon, California. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/06/15). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
