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 kennedyi

Calochortus palmeri

desert mariposa, desert mariposa lily

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

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

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

blade linear-attenuate;

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade channeled, glaucous.

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear-attenuate.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6-flowered;

bracts 2–4 cm, bases dilated.

mono-chasiate, 1–4-flowered;

bracts 1–2 cm.
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.

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

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

flat.

2n

=16.

= 14.

Calochortus kennedyi

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

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(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. Petals orange to red.
var. kennedyi
1. Petals ± yellow.
var. munzii
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. 138. 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. 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
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. kennedyi var. kennedyi, C. kennedyi var. munzii
C. palmeri var. munzii, C. palmeri var. palmeri
Name authority Porter: Bot. Gaz. 2: 79. (1877) 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).



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