Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus ambiguus

Calochortus howellii

doubting mariposa lily
Calochortus howellii

Howell's mariposa lily
Habit Plants often bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

usually branching, straight.

slender, not branching or rarely branching in axil of cauline leaf, straight, 2–4 dm.
Leaves

basal withering;

blade linear-attenuate.

basal persistent, 20–35 cm;

blade gradually tapering distally, adaxially pubescent.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–4-flowered.

subumbellate, 1–3-flowered;

bracts 2, subopposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, attenuate, 1–3 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth pinkish or bluish gray, infrequently with longitudinal gray stripe, open, campanulate;

sepals invested near gland, with yellowish, distally enlarged or branching, gland-tipped hairs, base sometimes marked with dull purple, apex acuminate;

petals with median blotch usually surrounded by yellow zone, ± equaling sepals, base sometimes marked with dull purple;

glands round to lunate, depressed, surrounded with narrow, deeply fringed membrane, densely covered with short, distally branching hairs;

filaments shorter than anthers;

anthers oblong-lanceolate, apex obtuse to acute.

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals shorter than petals, ovate-acuminate, glabrous;

petals yellowish white, with purplish hairs toward base, broadly obovate, cuneate, inconspicuously fringed laterally, sparingly short-hairy adaxially, apex rounded;

glands transversely oblong, slightly depressed, densely covered with short, distally branching hairs, the bases of which unite at lower margin to form inconspicuous, discontinuous membranes;

filaments shorter than anthers;

anthers oblong-lanceolate, apex acute to short-apiculate.
Capsules

erect, linear-oblong, 3-angled, apex acute.

erect, 3-winged, ellipsoid, ca. 2 cm, base and apex acute.
Seeds

flat.

light-colored, irregular.
2n

= 18.

= 20.

Calochortus ambiguus

Calochortus howellii
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer. Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Dry soils Dry, rocky, serpentine soils
Elevation 1100–2700 m (3600–8900 ft) 300–500 m (1000–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Calochortus howellii is known only from the Illinois River valley, Josephine County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26. FNA vol. 26, p. 129.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Calochortus Liliaceae > Calochortus
Sibling taxa
C. albus, C. amabilis, C. amoenus, C. apiculatus, C. argillosus, C. aureus, C. bruneaunis, C. catalinae, C. clavatus, C. coeruleus, C. concolor, C. coxii, C. dunnii, C. elegans, C. eurycarpus, C. excavatus, C. flexuosus, C. greenei, C. gunnisonii, C. howellii, C. indecorus, C. invenustus, C. kennedyi, C. leichtlinii, C. longebarbatus, C. luteus, C. lyallii, C. macrocarpus, C. minimus, C. monanthus, C. monophyllus, C. nitidus, C. nudus, C. nuttallii, C. obispoensis, C. palmeri, C. panamintensis, C. persistens, C. plummerae, C. pulchellus, C. raichei, C. simulans, C. splendens, C. striatus, C. subalpinus, C. superbus, C. tiburonensis, C. tolmiei, C. umbellatus, C. umpquaensis, C. uniflorus, C. venustus, C. vestae, C. weedii, C. westonii
C. albus, C. amabilis, C. ambiguus, C. amoenus, C. apiculatus, C. argillosus, C. aureus, C. bruneaunis, C. catalinae, C. clavatus, C. coeruleus, C. concolor, C. coxii, C. dunnii, C. elegans, C. eurycarpus, C. excavatus, C. flexuosus, C. greenei, C. gunnisonii, C. indecorus, C. invenustus, C. kennedyi, C. leichtlinii, C. longebarbatus, C. luteus, C. lyallii, C. macrocarpus, C. minimus, C. monanthus, C. monophyllus, C. nitidus, C. nudus, C. nuttallii, C. obispoensis, C. palmeri, C. panamintensis, C. persistens, C. plummerae, C. pulchellus, C. raichei, C. simulans, C. splendens, C. striatus, C. subalpinus, C. superbus, C. tiburonensis, C. tolmiei, C. umbellatus, C. umpquaensis, C. uniflorus, C. venustus, C. vestae, C. weedii, C. westonii
Synonyms C. watsonii var. ambiguus
Name authority (M. E. Jones) Ownbey: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 27: 505. (1940) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 23: 266. (1888)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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