MARIPOSA TULIP.
Calochortus venustus, Benth. (and varieties). Lily Family.
Stems.—A foot or two high; branching. Leaves.—Narrow; grasslike; channeled; glaucous; decumbent. Flowers.—Erect; cup-shaped; white, lilac, pink, claret, magenta, purple, or rarely light yellow; of uniform color or shaded; plain or variously oculated, stained, or blotched. Petals.—One or two inches long; slightly hairy below. Gland.—Large; roundish; densely hairy. Capsule.—Lanceolate; four or five lines broad. (See Calochortus.) Hab.—Dry sandy soil, in the Coast Ranges and Sierra foothills, from Mendocino County to Los Angeles.
I once emerged from the dense chaparral of a steep hillside upon a grassy slope, where myriads of these lovely flowers tossed their delicate cups upon the breeze. As I passed from flower to flower, I noticed many insect guests regaling themselves upon the nectar. Bees and flies jostled one another and crawled amid the hairs below, and beautifully mottled butterflies hovered over them.
[MARIPOSA TULIP—Calochortus venustus.]
![[MARIPOSA TULIP—Calochortus venustus.]](#3624944100741987669_f026.png.id-5661438792561551290.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
As originally described, this flower was white or pale lilac, with a more or less conspicuous, usually reddish, stain, or blotch, near the top, a brownish spot bordered with yellow in the center, and a brownish striate base. But it varies so widely from this type, in both color and spots, that neither is a reliable character from which to determine the species. Some of the oculated forms of C. luteus are so similar that they are readily confused with this, but a careful examination of the gland and the form of the capsule, together with the character of the soil in which the plants grow, will identify the species.