Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus howellii

Calochortus palmeri
Calochortus howellii

Howell's mariposa lily

Palmer's mariposa lily, strangling mariposa
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

slender, not branching or rarely branching in axil of cauline leaf, straight, 2–4 dm.

usually branching, straight, 3–6 dm; bearing bulblets or not.
Leaves

basal persistent, 20–35 cm;

blade gradually tapering distally, adaxially pubescent.

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear-attenuate.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–3-flowered;

bracts 2, subopposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, attenuate, 1–3 cm.

mono-chasiate, 1–4-flowered;

bracts 1–2 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals shorter than petals, ovate-acuminate, glabrous;

petals yellowish white, with purplish hairs toward base, broadly obovate, cuneate, inconspicuously fringed laterally, sparingly short-hairy adaxially, apex rounded;

glands transversely oblong, slightly depressed, densely covered with short, distally branching hairs, the bases of which unite at lower margin to form inconspicuous, discontinuous membranes;

filaments shorter than anthers;

anthers oblong-lanceolate, apex acute to short-apiculate.

erect;

perianth open, broadly campanulate;

sepals usually with brownish blotch near base, lanceolate, 3 cm, apex acuminate;

petals white to lavender, sometimes with brownish blotch distal to gland, obovate-cuneate, rounded distally, 2–3 cm, usually with yellow hairs near gland, apex acute to acuminate;

glands many, rounded, not depressed, short, thick, distally knobbed, sometimes with yellowish or purplish hairs, otherwise glabrous;

filaments 7–8 mm;

anthers white, oblong, 5–7 mm, apex acute.
Capsules

erect, 3-winged, ellipsoid, ca. 2 cm, base and apex acute.

erect, linear, angled in cross section, ca. 5 cm.
Seeds

light-colored, irregular.

2n

= 20.

= 14.

Calochortus howellii

Calochortus palmeri
Phenology Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Dry, rocky, serpentine soils
Elevation 300–500 m (1000–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Calochortus howellii is known only from the Illinois River valley, Josephine County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petal glands yellow-hairy; stems bulbeliferous at base; bracts alternate.
var. palmeri
1. Petal glands glabrous or purple-hairy; stems not bulbeliferous; bracts opposite.
var. munzii
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 129. FNA vol. 26, p. 133.
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. clavatus, C. coeruleus, C. concolor, C. coxii, C. dunnii, C. elegans, C. eurycarpus, C. excavatus, C. flexuosus, C. greenei, C. gunnisonii, 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. 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. palmeri var. munzii, C. palmeri var. palmeri
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 23: 266. (1888) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 266. (1879)
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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