It is endemic to California, where it is limited to the Central Valley and adjacent Sierra Nevada foothills.

Triteleia lilacina is a perennial wildflower growing from a corm.

The inflorescence arises on an erect stem up to 60 centimeters tall.

It is an umbel-like cluster of several flowers each borne on a pedicel up to 5 centimeters long.

The white flower is somewhat bowl-shaped with shiny, glasslike vesicles in the center.