Mariposa Lily
Yellow Mariposa Lily
Calochortus luteus
(photo by Robert Payne)
White Mariposa Lily
Many of the 37 species of Calochortus found in California may be
called Mariposa Lily, Mariposa Tulip, or even Butterfly Tulip. We get
a white one (Calochortus supurbus) and a yellow one
(Calochortus luteus).
They mostly grow up by the substation where they bloom
from April until June. Like all Lilies, they have 3 petals and 3
sepals that look like petals. The pretty ones are petals. The
Mariposa Lilies are considered to be among the most beautiful bulb
plants in the world. Some members of the genus are apparently very
rare.
Mariposa is Spanish for butterfly. The
markings inside the cup of
the flower do indeed look like a butterfly. They also look
like butterflies from the side.
See for yourself. Mariposa
Lilies were gathered in enormous numbers by Indians
using a stout digging stick to pluck them from the ground. They
were cooked in ovens before eating. They can be grown
from seed, but it takes 3-5 years to get a corm.
I originally had the White Mariposa as
Calochortus venustus. Then I got this
note from
David Hildebrand.
"I think the white Mariposa we have here is
Calochortus supurbus, not
venustus. The Superb Mariposa blooms a month earlier, has quite
different glands at the petal base and likes low altitudes. The
C. venustus
seldom occurs below 1500' and grows in semi-shade forested
areas, unlike the
C. supurbus which prefers open grassland and
serpentine soil.
The C. luteus
always grows in the sandy soils on the power station hill
and never on serpentine. The C. supurbus is the opposite".
