Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus coeruleus

beavertail-grass, blue cat's ear, blue star tulip
Stems

not branching, 0.3–2 dm.
Leaves

basal persistent, 1–2 dm;

blade linear, flat.
Inflorescences

1–10-flowered.
Flowers

erect to spreading;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals oblong-lanceolate, ca. 10 mm, glabrous, apex acuminate;

petals light blue, obovate, 8–12 mm, adaxial surface hairy only distal to gland, margins ciliate to apex, apex acuminate;

glands slightly depressed, bordered proximally by ciliate membrane, distally by short hairs;

anthers oblong, apex acute to acuminate.
Capsules

nodding, not winged, 1–2 cm, apex acute.
Seeds

irregular.
2n

= 20.

Calochortus coeruleus
Phenology Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Open gravelly places in woods
Elevation 600–2500 m [2000–8200 ft]
Distribution
map from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Calochortus coeruleus appears to intergrade with C. tolmiei to some extent, especially in petal ciliation (K. L. Chambers, pers. comm.), and it might better be treated as a variety of the latter, more widespread species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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. clavatus, 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
Synonyms Cyclobothra coerulea, C. coeruleus var. fimbriatus, C. maweanus
Name authority (Kellogg) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 263. (1879)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 124. Treatment authors: P. L. Fiedler, R. K. Zebell.
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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