YELLOW MARIPOSA TULIP.
Calochortus luteus, Dougl. Lily Family.
Stems.—Four to twelve inches high; bearing a single bulblet inclosed in the stem-sheath. Leaves.—Very narrow; one to three lines wide. Flowers.—Erect; cup-shaped; yellow; small; not oculated, but the petals striated with brown lines, especially on the middle third. Gland.—Transversely oblong to lunate; densely hairy with orange-colored ascending hairs, with scattered spreading hairs about it. Capsule.—Broad at the base; tapering upward. Hab.—Clay soil; Coast Ranges from Mendocino County to San Diego.
The typical C. luteus, as described above, is the least beautiful of all the Mariposa tulips, being lower of stature and smaller of flower than most of the others; but among its varieties may be found some of the most charming flowers of the genus, the true butterfly-tulips of the early Spanish, often oculated and marked in a wonderful manner. In color and marking they often run closely into forms of C. venustus, the only constant characters by which to distinguish them being found in the shape of the gland and the capsule and the character of the soil in which they grow.
There are two well-marked varieties—citrinus and oculatus—besides numerous other forms, where the species seems to have run riot in color and marking. The var. citrinus is a strong, vigorous-growing plant, with flowers of a deep lemon-yellow, with a large, distinct, very dark maroon eye on each petal. It is exceedingly beautiful.