Calochortus flexuosus

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Liliales

Familia: Liliaceae
Subfamilia: Calochortoideae
Genus: Calochortus
Species: Calochortus flexuosus
Name

Calochortus flexuosus S.Watson, Amer. Naturalist 7: 303 (1873)
References

American Naturalist 7(5): 303. 1873.
USDA NRCS PLANTS Profile USDA, NRCS. 2007. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 11 July 2007). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Vernacular names

English: Winding mariposa lily

Calochortus flexuosus is a species of lily known by the common names winding Mariposa lily and straggling Mariposa lily.

This is a bulbous perennial wildflower native to the Southwestern United States, the Mojave Desert in California, and northern Mexico. It is most often found in desert scrub, growing up through low shrubs.

Description

Calochortus flexuosus 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.

History

Calochortus flexuosus was published as a new species by Sereno Watson in 1873,[1] based on material collected by Ellen Powell Thompson in 1872 in the vicinity of Kanab, Utah, during the US Topographical and Geological Survey of the Colorado River (led by John Wesley Powell). Her specimen, the holotype, resides in the United States National Herbarium (US).

References

Watson, S. 1873. New plants of northern Arizona and the region adjacent. Amer. Naturalist 7 (see page 300). Available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library