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 greenei

Calochortus venustus

Greene's mariposa-lily

butterfly mariposa lily, square mariposa tulip
Habit Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

usually branching, 1–3 dm.

usually branching, 1–6 dm.
Leaves

basal persistent, ca. 2 dm;

blade glabrous adaxially.

basal withering, 1–2 dm;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

1–5-flowered.

subumbellate, 1–6(–10)-flowered;

bracts 2–8 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals 25–30 mm;

petals purplish, with darker purple abaxial crescent distal to gland, 30–40 mm, not ciliate at base, ± hairy;

glands deeply depressed, bordered proximally by wide ciliate membrane, distally by short hairs.

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.
Capsules

erect, 3-winged, ellipsoid, 20–25 mm.

erect, linear, angled, 5–6 cm.
Seeds

irregular.

light beige, ± flat, 4–6 mm.
2n

= 14.

Calochortus greenei

Calochortus venustus
Phenology Flowering mid summer. Flowering mid spring–mid summer.
Habitat Shrubby hillsides, open woodlands, dry soils and slopes Light sandy soil, often in decomposed granite in valley grassland, foothill woodland, and pine forest
Elevation 700–1100 m (2300–3600 ft) 300–2700 m (1000–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

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

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

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 129. FNA vol. 26, p. 134.
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. 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
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
Synonyms Mariposa venusta
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 264. (1879) Douglas ex Bentham: Trans. Hort. Soc. London, ser. 2, 1: 412, plate 15, fig. 3. (1835)
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 Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

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