Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus clavatus

Calochortus ambiguus

club hair mariposa, clubhair mariposa lily, slender mariposa lily

doubting mariposa lily
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous. Plants often bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

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

usually branching, straight.
Leaves

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.

basal withering;

blade linear-attenuate.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6-flowered;

bracts 4–8 cm, bases dilated.

subumbellate, 1–4-flowered.
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.

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.
Capsules

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

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

light yellow, translucent, flat.

flat.
2n

= 16.

= 18.

Calochortus clavatus

Calochortus ambiguus
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Dry soils
Elevation 1100–2700 m (3600–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; UT
[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. FNA vol. 26.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Calochortus 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
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
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 C. watsonii var. ambiguus
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 265. (1879) (M. E. Jones) Ownbey: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 27: 505. (1940)
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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