PlantFiles: Fairy Lantern, White Globe Lily
Calochortus albus

Calochortus albus var. albus (White Fairy Lantern) is described in Beauchamp's Flora of San Diego County, California, as growing on shaded slopes in the mountains above 2,000 feet. My photograph was taken in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park at about 5,500 feet in the forest of fir, pine and cedar trees. It frosts and snows in this location off and on throughout the winter (November-March) so this delightful little plant can be considered to be quite hardy.

Calochortus albus var. albus is a Californian bulb comprising two races: one in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada to 1200 meters; the other coastal from San Francisco to the very northernmost part of Baja. It is known to hybridize in the wild with C. monophyllus.

C. albus var. albus is a member of Section I. Calochortus, Subsection 1. Pulchelli (Flowers and capsules globose to subglobose, pendant; bulbs with membranous tunics)(Callahan, "The Genus Calochortus" in "Bulbs of North America", Timber Press, 2001)

According to Callahan, the plants grow in a wide range of soils, as long as they are free-draining and relatively dry in the summer. It's distribution suggests that it is not very hardy.

Will add a rating and more culture info as I grow it.