''Calochortus leichtlinii'' is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Leichtlin's mariposa, smokey mariposa, and

mariposa lily ''Calochortus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the lily family. The group includes herbaceous, perennial and bulbous species, all native to North America (primarily the Western United States). The genus ''Calochortus'' includes mariposas ...

. The plant is native to the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

and

Modoc Plateau __NOTOC__ The Modoc Plateau lies in the northeast corner of California as well as parts of Oregon and Nevada. Nearly of the Modoc National Forest are on the plateau between the Medicine Lake Highlands in the west and the Warner Mountains in th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and adjacent parts of the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California. It is noted fo ...

in southeastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and western

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It grows in

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

and

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 ...

habitats, including the lowest grassy hills—such as along the

boundary with the Central Valley and agriculture. The small underground bulbs were eaten by the Native Americans.

Description

''Calochortus leichtlinii'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

producing an erect, unbranching stem up to 60 centimeters tall. The

basal leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

is 10 to 15 centimeters long and withers by flowering. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a loose cluster of 1 to 5 erect, bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s 1 to 4 centimeters long which are white, pinkish, or dull blue in color and spotted with yellow and dark red or black and hairy at the bases.sierrawildflowers.org, Sierra Wildflowers, Scientific Name: Calochortus Leichtlinii
/ref> These color patterns vary widely among different regional and local populations. The fruit is a narrow capsule up to 6 centimeters long. Leichtlins Mariposa Lily, Yosemite

Mariposa lily drift Calochortus leichtlinii

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Calochortus leichtlinii''United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for ''Calochortus leichtlinii''''Calochortus leichtlinii'' — Calphotos Photos gallery, University of California
leichtlinii Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Endemic flora of the United States Plants described in 1870 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker {{Liliales-stub