Calochortus elegans |
Calochortus aureus |
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cat's ear, elegant cat's ear, elegant mariposa lily, elegant sego lily, elegant star tulip, northwestern mariposa lily |
golden mariposa lily |
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Habit | Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous. | |||||||||
Stems | ± slender, usually not branching, often scapelike, 0.5–2 dm. |
usually not branching or twisted, 1–3 dm. |
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Leaves | basal persistent, 1–2 dm; blade linear, flat, glabrous adaxially. |
basal withering, 1–2 dm; blade linear. |
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Inflorescences | 1–7-flowered. |
erect, subumbellate, 1–4-flowered; bracts unequal at base of inflorescence, 1–6 cm. |
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Flowers | erect to spreading; perianth open, campanulate; sepals oblong-lanceolate, 12–16 mm, usually glabrous, adaxial surface minutely papillose; petals light green to white, usually with purple crescent distal to gland, ± oblanceolate or broader, 10–15 mm, adaxial surface hairy only distal to gland, margins conspicuously ciliate; glands lunate, usually slightly depressed, bordered proximally by ± ciliate membrane, distally by short hairs; anthers lanceolate, apex apiculate. |
erect; perianth open, campanulate; sepals with maroon blotch distal to gland, broadly lanceolate, 1–4 cm, apex acuminate; petals lemon yellow, with maroon blotch distal to gland, broadly obovate, cuneate, 3–3.5 cm, ± glabrous or with a few lemon-yellow hairs near gland; glands round, depressed, surrounded by conspicuously fringed membranes, densely covered with short, unbranched or distally branching hairs; filaments ca. equaling anthers; anthers yellowish cream, oblong, apex obtuse. |
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Capsules | nodding, winged, ellipsoid-globular, 1–2 cm, apex obtuse or acute. |
erect, light tan to light brown, linear-lanceoloid, 3-angled, ca. 2.5–5 cm, apex acuminate. |
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Seeds | light brown, irregular. |
light yellow, flat. |
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2n | = 20. |
= 32. |
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Calochortus elegans |
Calochortus aureus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–mid summer. | |||||||||
Habitat | Dry sandy–clayey places | |||||||||
Elevation | 1200–2000 m (3900–6600 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
nw United States
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AZ; NM; UT
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 125. | FNA vol. 26. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Calochortus | Liliaceae > Calochortus | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | C. nuttallii var. aureus | |||||||||
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 240. (1814) | S. Watson: Amer. Naturalist 7: 303. (1873) | ||||||||
Web links |