PlantFiles: Mount Diablo Fairy Lantern
Calochortus pulchellus

Calochortus pulchellus has a very limited range: it grows at altitudes between 200 to 800 meters around Mt. Diablo, in Contra Costa County in Northern California. There it is found mostly on serpentine soils, in chaparral and on wooded slopes of Gray Pine (Pinus sabinianna) and Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia). It blooms from late April to mid-June.

The flowers are nodding globes, from a rich yellow to lime-yellow. The nectary hairs are unbranched and form a hemispherical cone. C. pulchellus is known to occaisionally hybridize with C. umbellatus.

C. pulchellus 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)

Calochortus pulchellus is a rare and endangered species, but luckily it will readily grow in a variety of soils, and seed is often available from several gardening societies like NARGS. Like many Coastal Californian species, C. pulchellus is frost-tender.
Mt. Diablo State Park is a 22,000 acre paradise only a short drive away from San Francisco, and Mitchell Canyon is recommended for those who want to see these beautiful blooms in the wild.

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