Calochortus elegans

What to Eat

Edible parts: Root, Bulb

Edible Parts: Root Edible Uses: Bulb - raw or cooked.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows on grassy slopes in open woods.

Canada, North America, USA,

How to Identify

A bulb plant. It grows 15-20 cm tall. The flowers are bowl shaped and a stem produces 1-7 flowers.

How to Grow

Requires a deep very well-drained fertile sandy soil in a warm sunny position and must be kept dry from mid summer to late autumn. This is a rather difficult plant to cultivate in Britain, it is very cold hardy but is intolerant of wetness especially in the winter. It is easiest to grow in a bulb frame but is worth trying outdoors at the base of a south-facing wall, especially with shrubs that like these conditions. Bulbs can be lifted as soon as the foliage dies down in the summer and stored overwinter in a cool dry place, replanting in spring. The bulbs must be replanted immediately according to another report. Bulbs frequently divide after flowering, the bulblets taking 2 years to reach flowering size. This species is closely related to C. tolmiei. Hand pollination is necessary if seed is required.

Propagation: Seed - sow as soon as ripe or early spring in a cold frame in a very sharply draining medium. Stratification may be helpful. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 months at 15°c. Leave the seedlings undisturbed for their first two years growth, but give them an occasional liquid feed to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. It is quite difficult to get the seedlings through their first period of dormancy since it is all too easy either to dry them out completely or keep them too moist when they will rot. After their second year of growth, pot up the dormant bulbs in late summer and grow them on for at least another 2 years in the greenhouse before trying them outside. Seedlings take about 5 - 7 years to come into flower. Division of the bulbs as soon as the foliage dies down. The bulbs can be planted straight out into their permanent positions but in areas with wet winters it might be best to store them overwinter and replant them in the spring. Stem bulbils, harvested from the stems after flowering. They can be stored cool and dry then planted in pots in the cold frame in the spring.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Other Uses

None known Special Uses

Calochortus elegans is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name elegant Mariposa lily, cat's ear, elegant cat's ears or star tulip. It is native to the western United States from northern California to Montana. It is a perennial herb producing a slender, generally unbranched stem up to 15 centimeters in height. The basal leaf is 10 to 20 centimeters long and does not wither at flowering. The inflorescence bears 1 to 7 erect bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three sepals and three petals with very hairy inner surfaces and edges. Each petal is greenish white in color with a purple crescent above a hairless patch at the base. The fruit is a winged capsule about 2 centimeters long. The bulb is a choice wild root vegetable when eaten cooked, and can be eaten raw to avoid starvation. It grows in open woodland and grassy hillsides. Varieties Calochortus elegans var. amoenus (Greene) auct. Calochortus elegans var. amoenus hort. Calochortus elegans var. elegans Pursh - Idaho, Oregon, Washington Calochortus elegans var. lobbii Baker Calochortus elegans var. major Hook. Calochortus elegans var. minor Hook. Calochortus elegans var. nanus Alph.Wood - Oregon, northern California Calochortus elegans var. oreophilus Ownbey Calochortus elegans var. selwayensis (H.St.John) Ownbey - Idaho, Montana Calochortus elegans var. subclavatus Baker

Notes

There are about 60-100 Calochortus species. There are 7-9 species in tropical America. They have also been put in the family Calochortaceae.

More from Liliaceae

Amana edulis

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Calochortus ambiguus - (M.E. Jones) Ownbey

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Calochortus apiculatus

Mariposa lily

Calochortus aureus

Calochortus barbatus