Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus clavatus

Calochortus superbus

club hair mariposa, clubhair mariposa lily, slender mariposa lily

superb mariposa lily, yellow mariposa
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous. Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

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

4–6 dm.
Leaves

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.

basal withering, 2–3 dm;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6-flowered;

bracts 4–8 cm, bases dilated.

subumbellate, 1–3-flowered;

bracts 2–8 cm.
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 open, campanulate, each member with median brown or purple blotch surrounded by bright yellow zone;

sepals lanceolate, attenuate, 2–4 cm;

petals white to yellowish or lavender, usually streaked with purple toward base, obovate to cuneate, rounded, 2–4 cm, with a few short hairs near gland, apex retuse to obtuse;

glands linear, strongly chevron-shaped to weakly lunate, not depressed, densely covered with short hairs;

filaments 7–9 mm;

anthers lanceolate-linear to oblong, 8–10 mm, apex acute to obtuse.
Capsules

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

erect, linear, angled, 5–6 cm, apex acute.
Seeds

light yellow, translucent, flat.

2n

= 16.

= 12, 14, 20, 26.

Calochortus clavatus

Calochortus superbus
Phenology Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Open slopes, dry meadows or wooded places in valley grassland, foothill woodland, pine forest
Elevation 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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. FNA vol. 26, p. 134.
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. 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. 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. 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 Mariposa superba
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 265. (1879) Purdy ex J. T. Howell: Leafl. W. Bot. 1: 11. (1932)
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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