White Globe Lily

Fairy Lantern
Calochortus albus
NATIVE – CA ENDEMIC

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Monocotyledon
  • Monocots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Lily Family (Liliaceae)
• Upright, herbaceous perennial
  • Grows from a bulb (short underground stem with fleshy leaves, e.g. onion)
• Leaves are shiny and of 2 types
  • Single, long, narrow, strap-like basal leaf appears first and lies lax along the ground
  • Additional basal leaves are lanceolate to linear, with alternating, shorter upper leaves along the stem
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a cluster of 1 to several nodding flowers
  • Each flower is a globe of 3 overlapping, white to pink petals
    • 3 prominent, pale-white to rosy-red sepals (outer flower parts)
    • Edges and interior are fringed with hairs
  • Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is a distinctive 3-sided, winged, nodding capsule (a dry, multi-chambered fruit that splits open at maturity) with many seeds
• Height to 30 in.

Distribution

• Native and endemic (limited) to California
  • Grows in yellow pine forests, chaparral, and foothill woodlands
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Grows at elevations to 6,500 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Pollen and nectar source for bees, beetles, and many other insects
• Native people
  • Ate the bulbs boiled, steamed, roasted, or baked in earthen ovens (Anderson 2005)
  • Some tribes pounded dried bulbs into a flour and ate as a mush
  • See Lily family for more details about how Native people actively managed edible geophytes

Name Derivation

• Calochortus (kal-oh-KOR-tus) – from the Greek kallos, “beautiful,” and chortus, “grass,” referring to the leaves
• albus (AL-bus) – from the Latin for “white,” referring to the flower color

Notes

• Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or enlarged taproots) are well adapted to survive fire, our Mediterranean climate’s long, dry summers, and extended droughts
  • Above-ground growth dies back after flowering, while underground the plant survives with stored water and nutrients
• The first above-ground structure that appears in spring is a long, narrow, shiny, strap-like leaf, often called a nurse leaf, which lies on the ground (Corelli 2005; Heiple 2026)
  • This leaf adds energy (carbohydrates) to the bulb through photosynthesis before further above-ground growth occurs
  • Flowering stems may be produced in the same season as the nurse leaf if the bulb is mature and conditions are favorable
    • In contrast, Edgewood’s other woodland lily, the checker lily (Fritillaria affinis), will not produce a flowering stem in the same year as its resting leaf
• The genus Calochortus is known for large, showy flowers above “beautiful grass” leaves
  • Range includes western North America, Mexico, and south to Guatemala
  • Greatest concentration of species is in California (Pacific 2025; Wood 2006)
    • The San Francisco Bay Area has 18 species – a center of Calochortus diversity! (Naumovich 2015)
  • Species are grouped into 3 flower forms
    • Globe lilies or “fairy lanterns” (nodding, globe-shaped flowers)
    • Mariposa lilies (open, upright flowers and wedge-shaped petals)
    • Cat’s ears and star tulips (open, upright flowers, pointed petals)
  • Edgewood has one globe lily (white globe lily) and two mariposa lilies (yellow mariposa lily and clay mariposa lily)
    • Cat’s ears can be found nearby in the Phleger Estate and Huddart County Park

ID Tips

• When flowers are present, this distinctive plant will not be confused with any other at Edgewood
• Leaves may be confused with those of Edgewood’s other woodland lily, the checker lily (Fritillaria affinis)
  • Nurse leaves
    • White globe lily nurse leaves are strap- or ribbon-like, long and narrow
    • Checker lily nurse leaves are widely ovate
  • Stem leaves
    • White globe lily stem leaves do not appear in a whorl
    • Checker lily stem leaves occur in an initial whorl

At Edgewood

• Found in woodlands
  • See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
• Flowers March – May

Specific References

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley.

Corelli T. 2005, Mar. Green ribbons and bows. Edgewood Explorer.

Heiple, P. 2026, Mar. 17. Personal communication.

Gerritsen, M.E., and R. Parsons. 2007. Calochortus: Mariposa Lilies and Their Relatives. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press.

Prigge, B.A., and A.C. Gibson. 2013. Calochortus albus. A Naturalist’s Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California. Web version, hosted at Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. United States Department of Interior, National Park Service.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Dave’s Garden.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.