Calochortus westonii

Calochortus westonii

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Calochortus
Species:
C. westonii
Binomial name
Calochortus westonii
Synonyms[2]

Calochortus coeruleus var. westonii (Eastw.) Ownbey

Calochortus westonii, common name Shirley Meadows star-tulip, is a rare endemic plant known only from the Greenhorn Mountains range of the southern Sierra Nevada, within Kern and Tulare Counties, California.

It grows in open locations in meadows and woodlands at elevations of 1,500–2,000 m (4,900–6,600 ft).[3] It is vulnerable due to habitat loss from logging, development of ski resort, and fuel breaks.[4]

Description

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Calochortus westonii is bulb-forming herb attaining a height of up to 15 cm (5.9 in). Leaves are basal, persistent, and linear, up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long.

Sepals are green, up to 10 mm (0.39 in) long. Petals are lanceolate, up to 12 mm (0.47 in) long, with long flexible hairs along the margins.[5][6][7][8] Flowers bloom from May to June and petals are white or blue in color.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. ^ Tropicos
  3. ^ "Calochortus westonii in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
  4. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  5. ^ Ownbey, Marion S. 1940. A monograph of the genus Calochortus. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 27: 371–560.
  6. ^ Ownbey, Marion 1969. Calochortus. University of Washington Publications in Botany 17: 765–779.
  7. ^ Eastwood, Alice. 1931. New species of plants from western North America. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, 20(5):135-160.
  8. ^ Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  9. ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2022-04-01.