Flowers: tepals yellowish orange, nearly always striped with 2 dark parallel lines, 5-12 mm; basal filament appendages shallowly 2-cuspidate, cusps shorter than 1 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering spring (Apr--Jun). Dry flats, hillsides, often in heavy soil, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, valley grasslands, oak woodlands; 0--1700 m; Calif.; Mexico (Baja California).

In the flora area, var. crocea is restricted to the southern Coast Ranges and the Channel Islands. The plants previously recognized as Bloomeria gracilis are simply small versions of var. crocea (J. W. Ingram 1953). The variety is in cultivation.