Calochortus nuttallii

Calochortus nuttallii, also known as the sego lily, is a bulbous perennial plant that is endemic to the Western United States. The common name of sego comes from a similar Shoshone word. It is the state flower of Utah.[2]

"Sego Lily" redirects here. For other uses, see Sego Lily (disambiguation).

Sego lily

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Calochortus
Species:
C. nuttallii
Binomial name
Calochortus nuttallii
Synonyms[1]
  • Calochortus luteus Nutt. 1834, illegitimate homonym not Douglas ex Lindl. 1833
  • Calochortus watsonii M.E.Jones
  • Calochortus rhodothecus Clokey
Near Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park, Utah

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to a number of western states, being found throughout Utah and Wyoming, large parts of eastern Nevada, and parts of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.[3][4] It grows in dry, brushy or grassy slopes and desert high country.[5]

Description
Painting by Mary E. Eaton[2]

Calochortus nuttallii are around 15–45 cm (6–18 inches) in height and have linear leaves.[3]

Plants have 1 to 4 flowers, each with 3 white petals (and 3 sepals) which are tinged with lilac (occasionally magenta) and have a purplish band radiating from the yellow base. A yellow petaled form with deep purple bands is known from Petrified Forest National Park.[6] The yellow petaled form was also observed in a "super bloom" near the Orange Cliffs District of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, on the north side of the Colorado River near Hite, Utah in May 2019. The plant blooms in early summer, with flowers that can be up to 3 inches across.[7][8]

Taxonomy

Calochortus nuttallii is a species within the genus Calochortus, in a sub-group generally referred to as Mariposa Lilies. The specific epithet nuttallii, named for the English botanist and zoologist, Thomas Nuttall, was ascribed to the species by the American botanists John Torrey and Asa Gray when it was officially described in 1857.[9]

Former varieties

A number of former varieties of Calochortus nuttallii have been reclassified as distinct species:

[1][10]

Names

The common name "sego lily" is believed to be derived from a Shoshoni language word for the species, "sikoo".[11][12]

Uses

Culinary

Native Americans had culinary uses for the bulbs, seeds, and flowers of the plant. Bulbs were roasted, boiled, or made into a porridge by the Hopi, Havasupai, Navajo, Southern Paiute, Gosiute, and Ute peoples.[13][14][15] The Hopi used the yellow flower ceremonially.

The Shoshone taught the Mormon pioneer immigrants to use the bulb for badly needed food. This resulted in the sego lily being formally designated as the Utah State Flower in 1911.[16][17] Sego is derived from the Shoshone word seego.[18] The sego lily was commemorated by the Sego Lily Dam, a flood-prevention infrastructure project in the shape of a giant sego lily, built in Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City in 2017.[19]

However, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service strongly cautions foragers that the many highly toxic plants commonly called deathcamas grow in the same habitat as Calochortus nuttallii and can be easily confused with it when flowers are not present.[20]

Cultivation

Calochortus nuttallii is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive tulip-shaped flowers and to attract/support native pollinator species.[21] They are intollerant of excessive water, both in dormancy and while growing. To support healthy growth they need a well drained soil, but not excessively sandy with very little organic matter. In relatively dry climates sego lilies accept either part shade or full sun conditions.[22] Plants can be propagated from newly formed bulblets which take two years to flower.[23] In climates with more rainfall than its native habitat additional measures to protect the bulbs from rotting are critical. The writer Claude A. Barr found that 8 centimeters or more of gravel no more than 7.5 centimeters under the bulbs remedied this problem.[22]

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Source: "Our State Flowers: The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths", The National Geographic Magazine, XXXI (June 1917), p. 512.
  3. "Calochortus nuttallii". Flora of North America. eFloras.org. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  4. "Distribution Map". Flora of North America. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  5. "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  6. Northern Arizona University: Petrified Forest Nat'l Park, Arizona. Yellow Sego Lilies (Calochortus nuttalli)
  7. NPIN: Calochortus nuttalli
  8. "Extension.usu.edu: Range Plants of Utah − Sego Lily". Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  9. POWO (2023). "Calochortus nuttallii Torr". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  10. "Calochortus nuttallii". electronic Plant Information Centre (ePIC). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  11. Buchanan, Hayle (1992). Wildflowers of southwestern Utah: a field guide to Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, and surrounding plant communities (revised ed.). Bryce Canyon: Bryce Canyon Natural History Association. p. 67. ISBN 1560440740.
  12. "Shoshoni Dictionary". Shoshoni Language Project. The University of Utah. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  13. University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Calochortus nuttallii
  14. "Mariposa Lily (Calochortus nuttallii)". Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  15. Chamberlin, R.V. "The Ethno-botany of the Gosiute Indians of Utah" (PDF). Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association Vol II, Part 5. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  16. "Utah State Flower". Netstate.com. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  17. Xin Wu (2017). Patricia Johanson and the Re-Invention of Public Environmental Art, 1958-2010. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351554916. Retrieved September 24, 2020. The Sego Lily brings back memories of the struggle for survival suring the early years of the settlement, when the pioneers were saved by the Shoshone Indians, who taught them to eat the bulb of the native Sego Lily (Calochortus nuttallii).
  18. Works Progress Administration (1937). Idaho: A Guide in Word and Picture. Idaho: Idaho. p. 115. ISBN 9781623760113. Retrieved September 24, 2020. Sego (seego) is a Shoshoni name for food; and the edible bulb of this flower the Mormons ate and found good.
  19. Lawrence, Danica (November 7, 2017). "Sugar House Park to receive functional yet beautiful art installation". FOX 13. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  20. Wolf, M.; Tilley, D. (2021). "Plant Guide for sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii)" (PDF). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Aberdeen Plant Materials Center. Aberdeen, ID. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  21. NPIN: Calochortus nuttallii
  22. Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 0-8166-1127-0.
  23. "Calachotus nuttalli". Plants for a Future. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
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