Calochortus amoenus--The Purple Fairy Lantern

April 2013: Our Purple Fairy Lanterns are really starting to bloom now...We even have one plant that has variegated foliage--a yellow and green striping reminiscient of a Spider Plant. Wonder what the flowers will look like here...

 

 From right to left we can see in the above photo the life cycle of a Purple Globe Lily flower: to the right, two buds are peaking out from their cauline leaves; in the center of the photo, the mature flower; and to the left, a withered bloom draping over an immature seed pod.

Found predominantly in the southern Sierra foothills, Calochortus amoenus, is also called the Rose Globe Lily, the Purple Fairy Lantern and--surprise!--the Southern Sierra Globe Lily. This species is similar in size to C. amabilis, and pulchellus, and it enjoys similar habitats and growing conditions, as well, save the granitic soils of the Sierra foothills.

The Purple Fairy Lantern is the fastest growing Globe Lily found at 7th Street Farms. From seed, it takes two growing seasons to produce flowers--all others have taken at least three.

Even the seed pods of C. amoenus have an attractive quality: