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club hair mariposa, clubhair mariposa lily, slender mariposa lily

Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous.
Stems

slender or coarse, stout, branching or not, strongly flexuous, 3–10 dm.

Leaves

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.

Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6-flowered;

bracts 4–8 cm, bases dilated.

Flowers

erect;

perianth open, cup-shaped;

sepals usually with red-brown blotch at base, lanceolate-ovate, 2–4 cm, apex acute;

petals lemon to golden yellow, with transverse line distal to gland, broadly cuneate to obovate, 3–5 cm;

glands round, deeply depressed, densely covered with short hairs with branching, coralline tips, surrounded by conspicuously fringed membrane and club-shaped hairs;

filaments ca. 10 mm;

anthers purplish brown, oblong, 4–10 mm.

Capsules

erect, lanceoloid-linear, angled, 6–9 cm, apex acuminate.

Seeds

light yellow, translucent, flat.

2n

= 16.

Calochortus clavatus

Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Petals shorter than sepals; petal glands very deeply depressed.
var. avius
1. Petals longer than sepals; petal glands shallowly to moderately depressed.
→ 2
2. Stems straight, slender, usually 3 dm or shorter.
→ 2
2. Stems flexuous, coarse, usually 5–10 dm.
→ 3
3. Petals 3–4 cm, sparsely bearded; leaves not recurved.
var. gracilis
3. Petals 4–5 cm, bearded; leaves strongly recurved.
var. recurvifolius
4. Petals deep yellow, hairs very knobby; anthers deep purple.
var. clavatus
4. Petals light yellow, hairs not very knobby; anthers yellow to medium purple.
var. pallidus
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 138.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Calochortus
Sibling taxa
C. albus, C. amabilis, C. ambiguus, C. amoenus, C. apiculatus, C. argillosus, C. aureus, C. bruneaunis, C. catalinae, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. clavatus var. avius, C. clavatus var. clavatus, C. clavatus var. gracilis, C. clavatus var. pallidus, C. clavatus var. recurvifolius
Synonyms Mariposa clavata
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 265. (1879)
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