Calochortus albus
White globe lily, fairy-lantern, Fairy-Lantern
Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native
White globe lily is a California native perennial found in southern California Ranges, northern and central Sierra Nevada, central western California, northern Channel Islands, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in shady to open woodland and scrub at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces white to pink flowers with nodding, nearly closed perianths approximately 20 to 25 millimeters long, featuring distinctive yellow or white glandular hairs on crescent-shaped nectaries. Growing with leafy stems 20 to 80 centimeters tall from a bulb-bearing base, it displays an elegant, somewhat glaucous appearance. Its basal leaves persist up to 70 centimeters long, while cauline leaves range from 5 to 25 centimeters, varying from lanceolate to linear in shape. The fruit is a distinctive nodding capsule 20 to 40 millimeters long with prominent wings, containing irregular dark brown seeds.
Habitat: Common. Shady to open woodland, scrub
Bloom period: Apr-Jun
Elevation: < 2000 m
Bioregions: s CaRF, n&c SN, CW, n ChI, TR, PR.
California counties: San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey, Butte, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Tulare, Mariposa, San Mateo, Calaveras, Santa Cruz, Amador, Riverside, Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Madera, San Bernardino, Orange, San Benito, Tuolumne, Nevada, Contra Costa, Fresno, Mendocino, Lake, Yuba, Sierra, Alameda, San Francisco, Napa
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.