''Calochortus dunnii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name Dunn's mariposa lily.

Distribution

The plant is endemic to the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

, native to southern

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

; and northern

Baja California state Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico. It is known from only a few occurrences in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

, and Closed-cone coniferous forest

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, at in elevation in the

Cuyamaca Mountains The Cuyamaca Mountains ( Kumeyaay: ''‘Ekwiiyemak''), locally the Cuyamacas, are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, in San Diego County, southern California. The mountain range runs roughly northwest to southeast. The Laguna Mount ...

, Laguna Mountains, and others.

Description

''Calochortus dunnii'' is a Perennial plant, perennial Herbaceous plant, herb growing a slender, branching stem up to 60 centimeters tall. The waxy, channeled basal leaf is 10 to 20 centimeters long and withers at flowering. The inflorescence bears 2 to 6 erect bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three sepals and three white or pinkish petals. The petals are up to 3 centimeters long and spotted with red and yellow near the bases, where there are patches of yellow hairs. The fruit is a narrow, angled Capsule (fruit), capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long.

Conservation

Although the plant isn't seriously impacted by any one major problem,The Nature Conservancy
/ref> the main threat to the existence of this rare species is collecting by admirers of the attractive flowers.Center for Plant Conservation
/ref>

References

External links

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Calflora Database: ''Calochortus dunnii'' (Dunn's mariposa lily)

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Calochortus dunnii''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Calochortus dunnii'' (Dunn's mariposa lily)

Flora of North America

UC Photos gallery — ''Calochortus dunnii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5023097 Calochortus, dunnii Flora of Baja California Flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Cuyamaca Mountains Laguna Mountains, ~ Plants described in 1901