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 venustus

Calochortus coxii

butterfly mariposa lily, square mariposa tulip

Cox's cat's ear, Cox's mariposa-lily
Habit Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

usually branching, 1–6 dm.

usually not branching, straight to flexuous, often scapelike, 15–25 cm.
Leaves

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.

basal ± erect, to 3 dm × 3–7 mm;

blade with adaxial surface densely hairy, abaxial surface glabrous, shiny.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–6(–10)-flowered;

bracts 2–8 cm.

erect, 1–7-flowered;

bracts 1–several, 2.5–3 cm.
Flowers

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.

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals ovate-acuminate, 20 × 8 mm;

petals white, with reddish striations from base to gland and broad lavender chevron just distal to gland margins, broadly obovate, 2.5 cm, adaxial surface densely hairy, margins slightly ciliate;

glands transversely oblong-lunate, deeply depressed, green at adaxial base, 1/2 to nearly equaling petal claw width, surrounded by yellow hairs that grade to white at petal apex, covered with membranous scales, scales covered with very small, translucent, rodlike hairs;

filaments 7 mm;

anthers reddish brown, 3–7 mm, apex apiculate.
Capsules

erect, linear, angled, 5–6 cm.

nodding, 3-winged, ellipsoid-elongate, 3–4 cm.
Seeds

light beige, ± flat, 4–6 mm.

light beige, surface rough.
2n

= 14.

Calochortus venustus

Calochortus coxii
Phenology Flowering mid spring–mid summer. Flowering mid summer.
Habitat Light sandy soil, often in decomposed granite in valley grassland, foothill woodland, and pine forest North-facing open grassy slopes or woods, on serpentine
Elevation 300–2700 m (1000–8900 ft) 200–1000 m (700–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Flower color and pattern are very showy and exceedingly variable in Calochortus venustus.

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

Of conservation concern.

Calochortus coxii is endemic to Douglas County from near the Umpqua River to Myrtle Creek Mountain.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 134. FNA vol. 26, p. 126.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Mariposa venusta
Name authority Douglas ex Bentham: Trans. Hort. Soc. London, ser. 2, 1: 412, plate 15, fig. 3. (1835) M. R. Godfrey & Callahan: Phytologia 65: 216, fig.1g–k. (1988)
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, OregonFlora

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