Calochortus elegans |
Calochortus venustus |
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cat's ear, elegant cat's ear, elegant mariposa lily, elegant sego lily, elegant star tulip, northwestern mariposa lily |
butterfly mariposa lily, square mariposa tulip |
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Habit | Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous. | |||||||||
Stems | ± slender, usually not branching, often scapelike, 0.5–2 dm. |
usually branching, 1–6 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. |
subumbellate, 1–6(–10)-flowered; bracts 2–8 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 lanceolate, 3–5 cm, apex recurved; petals white to brightly or deeply yellow, purple, or dark red, with dark red median blotch, often with second paler distal blotch, obovate or cuneate to clawed, rounded, 3–5 cm, with scattered proximal hairs, apex retuse to obtuse; glands in lower middle of petal, ± square, sometimes ovate, not depressed, covered with short, orange to red-purple hairs; filaments usually equaling anthers; anthers linear-lanceolate to oblong. |
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Capsules | nodding, winged, ellipsoid-globular, 1–2 cm, apex obtuse or acute. |
erect, linear, angled, 5–6 cm. |
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Seeds | light brown, irregular. |
light beige, ± flat, 4–6 mm. |
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2n | = 20. |
= 14. |
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Calochortus elegans |
Calochortus venustus |
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Phenology | Flowering mid spring–mid summer. | |||||||||
Habitat | Light sandy soil, often in decomposed granite in valley grassland, foothill woodland, and pine forest | |||||||||
Elevation | 300–2700 m (1000–8900 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
nw United States
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CA
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Flower color and pattern are very showy and exceedingly variable in Calochortus venustus. (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, p. 134. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Calochortus | Liliaceae > Calochortus | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | Mariposa venusta | |||||||||
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 240. (1814) | Douglas ex Bentham: Trans. Hort. Soc. London, ser. 2, 1: 412, plate 15, fig. 3. (1835) | ||||||||
Web links |