Flora of North America species comparison

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Calochortus gunnisonii

Calochortus argillosus

Gunnison's mariposa lily

clay mariposa, clay mariposa lily
Habit Plants usually bulbose; bulb coat, when present, membranous. Plants bulbose; bulb coat membranous.
Stems

not branching, straight, 2.4–5.5 dm.

not branching, 4–6 dm.
Leaves

basal withering, 18–35 cm;

blade linear.

basal withering, 2–3 dm;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

subumbellate, 1–3-flowered.

subumbellate, 1–4-flowers;

bracts 2–8 cm.
Flowers

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals marked similar to petals, lanceolate, usually much shorter, glabrous, apex acute;

petals white to purple, greenish adaxially, clawed, often with narrow, transverse purple band distal to gland and purple blotch on claw, obovate, cuneate, usually obtuse and rounded distally;

glands transversely oblong, not depressed, densely bearded with distally branching hairs, outermost of which somewhat connate at base to form discontinuous, deeply fringed membranes;

filaments shorter than anthers;

anthers lanceolate, apex acute to apiculate.

erect;

perianth open, campanulate;

sepals lanceolate, 2–4 cm, apex acute to acuminate;

petals white to purple, with median red blotch often surrounded by pale yellow, obovate to cuneate, rounded, 2–4 cm, with a few short hairs near gland, apex retuse to obtuse;

glands arched, transversely oblong to weakly lunate or ± rectangular, not depressed, densely covered with short hairs;

filaments 7–9 mm;

anthers lanceolate-linear to oblong, 8–10 mm, apex acute to obtuse.
Capsules

erect, linear-oblong, 3-angled, 3–6 cm, apex acute.

erect, narrowly lanceoloid, stout, 4–6 cm.
Seeds

flat, inflated.

light beige, lanceolate, flat, 5–6 mm.
2n

= 18.

= 14.

Calochortus gunnisonii

Calochortus argillosus
Phenology Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Hard clay soil of volcanic or metamorphic rock
Elevation 0–400 m (0–1300 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
wc North America
[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.)
Key
1. Petals white to purple, occasionally yellow; w United States.
var. gunnisonii
1. Petals pale yellow; New Mexico only.
var. perpulcher
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 140. 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. greenei, 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. 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. weedii, C. westonii
Subordinate taxa
C. gunnisonii var. gunnisonii, C. gunnisonii var. perpulcher
Synonyms Mariposa argillosa
Name authority S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 348. (1871) (Hoover) Zebell & P. L. Fiedler: Madroño 39: 306. (1992)
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).



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