Natural History Wanderings

Mariposa Lilies, Globe Lilies and Star Tulips

Calochortus is a plant genus that has many of the most showy and popular wildflowers. It is genus in the Lily Family (Liliaceae) with about 70 species. It includes Mariposas Lilies (open wedge-shaped petals), Globe Lilies and Fairy Lanterns (Globe-shaped flowers), and Cat’s Ears and Star Tulips (erect pointed petals).  Calochortus are found in western North America and the range is range south-west British Columbia to northern Guatemala and east to Nebraska and the Dakotas. Calochortus comes from Greek and means beautiful grass.

Here is a short  Flickr slideshow of some of my better Calochortus photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandysteinman/sets/72157627988675717/show/ (best viewed full screen by clicking icon in bottom right corner of slideshow)

There is also Flickr group of photos of Calochortus: Calochortus beauty http://www.flickr.com/groups/483334@N21/

Wikipedia site on Calochortus, which served as source for much of the information in this post:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus