Calochortus

Calochortus is a genus of bulbous plants that includes 70 species from British Columbia to Guatemala and east to Nebraska. Calochortus is the most widely dispersed genus of Liliaceae on the North American Pacific coast. Of these, 28 species are endemic to California. The genus Calochortus includes Mariposas (or Mariposa lilies) with open wedge-shaped petals, Globe lilies and Fairy lanterns with globe-shaped flowers, and Cat's ears and Star tulips with erect pointed petals. The word Calochortus is derived from Greek and means "beautiful grass".

Calochortus produce one or more flowers on a stem that arises from the bulb, generally in the spring or early summer. Unlike most other Liliaceae, Calochortus petals differ in size and color from their sepals. Flowers can be white, yellow, pink, purple, bluish, or streaked. The insides of the petals are often highly hairy. These hairs, along with the nectaries, are often used in distinguishing species from each other.

Calochortus nuttallii, the Sego Lily, is the official state flower of Utah.


Uses
The bulbs of many species were eaten by Native Americans. They were also eaten by the Mormon settlers in Utah during the first winter or two because of crop failures during the first few years of settlement in the Great Salt Lake Valley.


Species
Calochortus albus, also known as the Globe Lily or Fairy Lantern, as well as other names including Satin Bells, White Globe Tulip, Alabaster Tulip, and Indian Bells, is a California native plant in the Calochortus genus.


Calochortus catalinae is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name Santa Catalina mariposa lily. It is endemic to Southern California where it is found along the coastline, and especially on the Channel Islands. This plant produces long basal leaves and tall, branching stems up to 60 centimeters high. The purple-tinted sepals are up to 3 centimeters long and the longer petals are usually white or very pale pink with a blotch of purple or deep red at the bases. The bowl of the petals may have sparse long hairs. The anthers are usually light in color, often pink.


Calochortus clavatus is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name clubhair mariposa lily. It is endemic to California where it is found in forests and on chaparral slopes. This lily produces tall stems up to a meter in height and only basal leaves. Atop the stem is a lily bloom with sepals up to 4 centimeters long. The petals are up to 5 centimeters long and yellow with a darker line or series of bands near the base, which are often red. The cup of the flower is filled with hairs which have clubbed ends. The anthers are often deep purple. The capsule fruit is up to 9 centimeters long.


Calochortus caeruleus - The bulbous plant of the lily family Calochortus caeruleus (often spelled incorrectly as Calochortus coeruleus) is known by the common name beavertail grass. It is found only in Northern California. It is a distinctive plant bearing flowers with light blue spade-shaped petals covered in brushlike hairs.


Calochortus flexuosus is a species of lily known by the common names winding Mariposa lily and straggling Mariposa lily. This is a wildflower native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico where it is most often found in desert scrub, growing up through low shrubs. This lily is mainly one long naked stem with only one or two small leaves toward the base. The stem may branch and is usually winding and bent or curving. At the end of the stem is a showy flower in shades of pink or lavender to white, with solid yellow and stripes or spots of white and red at the base of each petal.


Yellow mariposa, Calochortus luteus, is a plant species endemic to California. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental.


Calochortus macrocarpus, also known as mariposa lily occurs in northwestern United States and a small part of southern British Columbia. The leaves are blue-green and grass-like. The flowers are large, bloom in June, are three-petaled, and are pink and purple. The bulbs are tapering, like a carrot. First peoples in southern British Columbia harvested the bulbs from April to June. They can be eaten raw or cooked.


The Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah. The bulbs of this and other Calochortus species were roasted, boiled or made into a porridge by Native Americans and were also used as a food source by the Mormon pioneers in Utah. Currently, it is grown as an ornamental for its attractive tulip-shaped flowers.


Calochortus plummerae is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name Plummer's mariposa lily.


Calochortus splendens is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name splendid mariposa lily. It is native to California and Baja California. It is a thin-stemmed lily with few leaves and bearing flowers singly or in inflorescences of up to four. Each flower is ringed with smaller, ribbonlike, curling bracts. The bowl-shaped flowers are of varying shades of purple, often lavender, with a spot of darker purple at the base of each petal. The flower may plentiful white hairs in the center and bright purple pollen.


Calochortus striatus is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name alkali mariposa lily. It is native to California and Nevada where it grows in the Mojave Desert. This plant erects a stem usually only a few centimeters tall but sometimes quite a bit taller, and a long basal leaf which may lie flat on the ground. At least halfway up the stem it may branch, and atop each branch is a bell-shaped lily bloom. Pointed sepals form the base of the flower and above are three rounded petals, which may be slightly toothed. Each petal is two to three centimeters long and is very light to very dark pink or purplish with darker pink or purple veining or mottling. The cup of the flower is somewhat hairy. The anthers are bright to dull pink, with pink pollen. The capsule fruit is up to 5 centimeters long. This is a plant of alkaline soils in the desert scrub.


Calochortus tiburonensis (also known as the Tiburon Mariposa Lily) is a rare member of the genus Calochortus in the family Liliaceae. It was first brought to the attention of science in 1971, and written up in the botanical literature in 1973. Calochortus tiburonensis is endemic to a single serpentine outcrop in California's Marin County. It grows on serpentine-derived soil atop this outcrop in grasslands from 0-200 m. on Ring Mountain. It is considered threatened due to loss of surrouding habitat to recreational activities, to competition from invasive species, to its proximity to a dense population center, and to its confinement to a single population of plants.

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