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 weedii

Calochortus excavatus

foothill mariposa lily, Weed's mariposa, Weed's mariposa lily

Inyo County star-tulip
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat fibrous-reticulate.
Stems

slender, usually branching, 3–9 dm.

slender, not branching, 1–3 dm.
Leaves

basal withering, 2–4 dm;

blade linear to lanceolate.

basal usually persistent, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

2–6-flowered;

bracts resembling distal cauline leaves.

subumbellate, 1–4-flowered;

bracts paired, 3–8 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth open, broadly campanulate;

sepals ovate to lanceolate, attenuate, 2–3 cm;

petals orange-yellow, flecked, broadly cuneate or obovate, ca. 2–3 cm, adaxially bearded with long yellow hairs, margins often red-brown, dentate or fringed;

glands round, slightly depressed, ± glabrous, surrounded by ring of long, dense, obscuring yellow hairs;

filaments 8–12 mm;

anthers lanceolate-oblong, apex acute.

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals lanceolate, 2–3 cm, apex acuminate;

petals lavender, with longitudinal median abaxial green stripe, with or without blotches, broadly cuneate to obovate, 3–4 cm, with a few short hairs near gland;

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

filaments 6–8 mm;

anthers red-brown, oblong, 7–10 mm, apex obtuse.
Capsules

erect, linear, angled, 4–5 cm, apex acute.

erect, brown, lanceoloid-linear, 3-angled, 2–3 cm.
Seeds

light beige.

light beige, translucent, flat.
2n

= 18.

Calochortus weedii

Calochortus excavatus
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Grassy meadows in shadscale scrub
Elevation 1200–2000 m (3900–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 4 (3 in the flora).

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

Calochortus excavatus is found only in the eastern Sierra Nevada in Mono and Inyo counties. It is threatened by groundwater depletion.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petals deep yellow.
var. weedii
1. Petals purplish or cream to red-brown.
→ 2
2. Petals purplish, apex rounded; anther apex rounded.
var. intermedius
2. Petals usually cream or red-brown, never purplish, apex squarish; anther apex abruptly apiculate.
var. vestus
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 141. FNA vol. 26, p. 137.
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. venustus, C. vestae, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. weedii var. intermedius, C. weedii var. vestus, C. weedii var. weedii
Name authority Alph. Wood: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 20: 169. (1868) Greene: Pittonia 2: 71. (1890)
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