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desert mariposa, desert mariposa lily

Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous.
Stems

usually not branching but sometimes twisted, 1–2(–5) dm.

Leaves

blade linear-attenuate;

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade channeled, glaucous.

Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6-flowered;

bracts 2–4 cm, bases dilated.

Flowers

erect;

perianth open, campanulate, each member often with brown-purple blotch near base;

sepals ovate, 2–3 cm, apex acute;

petals orange to red or ± yellow, cuneate to obovate, 3–5 cm, with a few slightly enlarged hairs near gland;

glands round, depressed, surrounded by conspicuously fringed membrane, densely covered with unbranched or cleft hairs;

filaments 4–5 mm;

anthers purplish, lanceolate, 5–8 mm.

Capsules

erect, longitudinally striped, lanceoloid-linear, angled, 4–6 cm, apex acuminate.

Seeds

flat.

2n

=16.

Calochortus kennedyi

Distribution
from USDA
sw United States; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Petals orange to red.
var. kennedyi
1. Petals ± yellow.
var. munzii
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 138.
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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. kennedyi var. kennedyi, C. kennedyi var. munzii
Name authority Porter: Bot. Gaz. 2: 79. (1877)
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