Calochortus amoenus

Purple fairy lantern

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Purple fairy lantern is a California native perennial found in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains in Madera and Fresno counties, growing on grassy slopes in partial shade at elevations of 500 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces rose-colored flowers that are spheric and closed at the tip, with petals 16 to 25 millimeters long that are sparsely ciliate and hairy. Growing with leafy stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall and appearing slightly glaucous, the plant has a distinctive growth habit with basal leaves up to 50 centimeters long and 2 to 5 cauline leaves. Its leaves are acuminate, with basal leaves remaining persistent throughout the growing season. The fruit is nodding and widely elliptic, measuring 20 to 30 millimeters long and slightly winged.

Habitat: Grassy slopes in partial shade

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 500-1500 m

Bioregions: c&amps SN (Madera, Fresno cos.).

California counties: Tulare, Madera, Kern, Fresno, Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, Tuolumne, Alameda, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.