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Callahan's mariposa lily

Calochortus syntrophus

Callahan's mariposa lily
Photo: John Game, CC BY 2.0

Callahan's mariposa lily is a rare bulbous wildflower from northern California, found in open rocky oak woodland with moist soil. It is a species, not a commonly grown garden plant, and grows best where its bulb can stay damp in spring and rest dry in summer.

Family
Liliaceae (Lily family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water during the spring growing season while the soil is moist, then keep it dry in summer while dormant.
Soil
Well-drained, gritty or rocky soil that stays moist in spring.
Temperature
Hardy in mild climates; protect from hard frost.
How easy
Hard
Safety
Not toxic to cats or dogs (ASPCA).
Native range
California (Shasta Co.)
Climate
subtropical

About

Calochortus syntrophus is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Callahan's mariposa lily and clustered mariposa lily. It is endemic to northern California, where it occurs in a remote area north of Montgomery Creek in Shasta County. It has also been spotted in adjacent Tehama County. Its habitat includes open, rocky areas with moist or wet soils in oak woodland territory. It was first discovered in 1993 and its description was published the following year.

This plant produces a thick, waxy stem 40 to 60 centimeters in maximum height. It grows from a bulb which sometimes divides and sends up new stems nearby. The leaves are up to 20 or 30 centimeters long near the base of the plant and those occurring higher on the stem are shorter. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or an umbel-like cluster of up to five flowers.

Other Calochortus plants

White fairy-lantern · Diogenes' lantern · Doubting mariposa lily · Purple fairy-lantern · Pointedtip mariposa lily · Clay mariposa lily · Golden mariposa lily · Calochortus balsensis · Calochortus barbatus · Bruneau mariposa lily · Santa Catalina mariposa lily · Calochortus cernuus

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calochortus syntrophus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.

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