Calochortus obispoensis

San luis mariposa lily, San Luis Mariposa Lily

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

San luis mariposa lily is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in central Coast Ranges east of Morro Bay and southern San Luis Obispo County in dry serpentine chaparral at elevations of 100 to 500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces yellow to deep orange flowers with distinctive dark-hair-tufted petals, each approximately 10 to 20 millimeters long and fringed with dense, slender hairs. Growing with slender, generally branched stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall emerging from a fibrous bulb, it develops from a basal rosette of linear, long-tapered leaves. Its leaves are channeled and measure 20 to 30 centimeters long, with two reduced cauline leaves becoming progressively smaller and inrolled toward the stem's upper portion. The fruit is an erect, linear pod 3 to 4 centimeters long, containing light yellow to tan seeds with a fine net-like surface.

Habitat: dry serpentine, generally open chaparral

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 100-500 m

Bioregions: c CCo (e of Morro Bay), s SCoRO (San Luis Obispo Co.).

California counties: San Luis Obispo

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