Elegant Mariposa Lily - Calochortus elegans
Other Names:
Calochortus selwayensis
Native Species
Global Rank:
G3G4
State Rank:
S3S4
(see State Rank Reason below)
C-value:
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
Stem 5–25 cm. Leaf blade 2–10 mm wide. Bracts usually 2, 5–30 mm long. Flowers 1 to 5; sepals 10–15 mm long, purplish; petals white; inner surface hairy, purplish above and below the fringed, hemispheric gland; anthers lanceolate, apiculate. Capsule ellipsoid, nodding, 1–2 cm long (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Our plants are variety
selwayensis (H.St.John) Owenby
Hybrids of
Calochortus elegans and
Calochortus apiculatus are known in Montana, and will not match characteristics of either species well.
Montana has Variety
selwayensis which has straight, shallow,
and short petal glands. Variety
elegans occurs in east-central Idaho and could occur in Beaverhead County (Lesica et al. 2012); it tends to have fewer hairs on the petals.
Elegant Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus elegans*Basal Leaf: Flat, broader and usually more than half as long as the stem leaves.
*Sepals: purplish, 10-15 mm long.
*Anthers: Lanceolate (wider from base to below middle and tapering to the tip)
and apiculate (short, sharp tip).
*Petals: Strongly clawed. Outside is white. Inside is purple, surface is hairy (ciliate or densely long bearded), and at the base is darker purple crescent-shaped gland.
Baker Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus apiculatus*Basal Leaf: Flat, broader and usually more than half as long as the stem leaves.
*Anthers: Lanceolate (wider from base to below middle and tapering to the tip)
and apiculate (short, sharp tip).
*Sepals: 15-25 mm long.
*Petals: Outside is white, drying yellowish, and serrulate on the margins. Inside the petals are hairy (or strongly bearded), white, and at the base it is yellow with a small (1.5 mm), circular, dark, central gland.
Big-pod Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus eurycarpus*Basal Leaf: Flat, broader and usually more than half as long as the stem leaves.
*Anthers: Oblong and blunt at the tip.
*Sepals: yellowish, 15-30 mm long.
*Petals: Outside is white or purplish, 3-4 cm long. Inside is purplish with sparse hairs and at the base a fringed yellow gland; centrally there is a large circular purplish spot.
The following Mariposa Lilies differ from those above in that their basal leaves are channeled (v-shaped), similar in width to the stem leaves, and often less than half the length of the stem leaves:
Gunnison's Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus gunnisoniiBruneau Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus bruneaunis, SOC
Nuttall's Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus nuttallii Green-band Mariposa Lily -
Calochortus macrocarpusBedrock meadows, shallow soils and meadows in areas of Montana having a less extremely continental climate. Usually in open areas but sometimes in partial shade.
