Gunnison's Mariposa is a species of purple or white flowering lily bulb in the Liliaceae family native to the western U.S.A. in the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills. This showy wildflower makes its home to dry meadows, sagebrush, and woodlands at fairly high elevations (3280-10,827 ft). "Calochortus", from the Greek "kalos", means "beautiful", and "chortos" means "grass", refers to its grass-like green leaves. "Mariposa" is Spanish for "butterfly" Prefers a sunny location in moist to dry loams and rocky soils. Soils need to be very well-drained to prevent bulb rot. The showy flowers are white or purple with yellow hairs inside and often a purple band at the throat. The basal leaves tend to wither early, leaving the thin linear stem leaves. This plant is rare and hard to find and will most likely not do well in the hot humid climate of the southeast. Use this plant in its native habitat in a rock garden, slope or mass planted. Attractive to bees and other pollinators. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Generally pest-free. Bulb rot and powdery mildew can occur in too moist conditions. Voles and gophers can eat the bulbs.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Texture
Fine
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Linear basal leaves are often withered by flowering time. Stem leaves are alternate and clasping up to 12 inches long and grass-like
Flower color
Purple/Lavender; Variegated; White
Flower shape
Cup
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
1-4 exotic 1.5 to 2 inch purple to white cup-shaped flowers with 3 wide petals and three narrow sepal, fringed membranes, a broken purple/maroon band above the yellow base of the petals and a purple blotch on the claw. Appear May to July.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Three-angled capsules with flat seeds.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Thin green hairless stalks that may branch near the top
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Western U.S.A.
Distribution
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Washington state
Wildlife value
Flowers attract bees and other pollinators.
Attracts
Bees; Pollinators
Food & Medicine
Edible parts
Leaves; Flowers
Harvest time
Fall; Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Edibility
The bulb can be eaten raw or cooked. Most parts of the plant is edible including leaves and flower buds.
Uses (ethnobotany)
Used as a food source by Native Americans and early settlers