''Calochortus palmeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Palmer's mariposa lily and strangling mariposa.Calflora taxon report, University of California @ Berkeley: ''Calochortus palmeri''
/ref>Flora of North America, ''Calochortus palmeri''
/ref> It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

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 ...

, where it is distributed in the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

and Peninsular Ranges of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

( Santa Barbara, Ventura,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

Kern KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, and San Diego Counties). There is also a report of an isolated population in the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

San Benito County San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for " St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,209. The co ...

Description

''Calochortus palmeri'' 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 wid ...

herb producing a straight, branching stem up to 60 centimeters tall. The basal leaf is 10 to 20 centimeters long and withers by flowering. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

bears 1 to 6 erect, open bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three brown-speckled

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s 3 centimeters long and three wider petals each 2 or 3 centimeters long. The petals are white to light lavender and have bases with yellow or purple hairs, or lacking hairs, depending on variety. ;Varieties *''Calochortus palmeri'' var. ''munzii'' — Munz's mariposa lily — rarer of the two, and known only from the Peninsular Ranges in Riverside and San Diego Counties. *''Calochortus palmeri'' var. ''palmeri'' — Palmer's mariposa lily — native to the

.Calflora: ''Calochortus palmeri'' var. ''palmeri''
/ref> ;formerly included *''Calochortus palmeri'' var. ''dunnii'', now called ''

Calochortus dunnii ''Calochortus dunnii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the Liliaceae, lily family known by the common name Dunn's mariposa lily. Distribution The plant is endemic to the Peninsular Ranges, native to southern San Diego County, California, ...

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Calochortus palmeri'' (Palmer's mariposa lily, strangling mariposa)Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
palmeri Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Plants described in 1879 Natural history of the Transverse Ranges {{Liliales-stub