Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Calochortus invenustus

Calochortus simulans

plain mariposa, plain mariposa lily

La Panza mariposa lily, San Luis obispo mariposa-lily
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous. Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

slender, usually not branching or twisted, 2–5 dm.

usually branching, 1–6 dm.
Leaves

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–5-flowered;

bracts 2–5 cm.

subumbellate, 1–3-flowered;

bracts 2–8 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals lanceolate-ovate, 2–3 cm, apex acuminate;

petals white or dull lavender to purplish, with longitudinal median green stripe on adaxial surface and sometimes purplish blotch proximal to gland, cuneate to obovate, 2–4 cm, with a few short hairs near gland, apex obtuse to apiculate;

glands ± round, slightly depressed, small, surrounded by conspicuously fringed membrane, densely covered with short, distally branching hairs;

filaments 6–7 mm;

anthers purplish or yellowish, oblong, 7–8 mm, apex obtuse.

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals with dark red proximal blotch surrounding gland and extending to base, lanceolate, 2–3 cm, apex recurved;

petals white or yellowish, often pink abaxially, with dark red blotch surrounding gland, often with small red spot immediately above gland, obovate to cuneate, 3–5 cm, with scattered hairs proximally;

glands suprabasal, ± square, not depressed, covered with short hairs;

filaments usually equaling anthers;

anthers linear-lanceolate to oblong.
Capsules

erect, lanceoloid-linear, angled, 5–7 cm, apex acute.

erect, linear, angled, 5–6 cm.
Seeds

flat.

light beige, flat, 5–6 mm.
2n

= 14.

= 14.

Calochortus invenustus

Calochortus simulans
Phenology Flowering late spring–late summer. Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Dry soil, usually granitic, usually in montane coniferous forests Sand (often granitic), grasslands to pine forests
Elevation 1500–3000 m (4900–9800 ft) 0–1100 m (0–3600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Calochortus simulans is restricted to central San Luis Obispo County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 137. 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. 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. 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. 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 Mariposa simulans
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 2: 71. (1890) (Hoover) Munz: Suppl. Calif. Fl., 174. (1968)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers