A review of taxonomic literature, examination of existing herbarium specimens, and a morphological study of field-collected material demonstrates that species circumscriptions have been misapplied for the small-flowered Brodiaea species with spreading perianth lobes and floral tubes narrowed above the ovary. The results of these studies demonstrate that Niehaus's (1971) concept of B. purdyi, polyploid plants that occur in woodland habitats in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills, applies to the taxon originally described as B. minor, placing B. purdyi in synonymy with B. minor. Niehaus's concept of B. minor, diploid plants occurring in vernal pool terrain, applies only to those populations originally described as Brodiaea nana, which is resurrected at species rank.