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Sego
Lily
Common
Name(s):
Sego Lily
Scientific
Name:
Calochortus
nuttallii Torr. & Grau
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
CANU3
Description:
Life
Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
A
monocot with a single stem and having a single, large, terminal
flower. This plant is one of the most conspicuous and beautiful
early-blooming flowers of the semidesert. It dries up shortly after
blossoming.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Goblet
shaped, satin-like flowers. The flower is white with cherry red
and yellow markings at the base (glands). The flowers can be up
to 3 inches across.
Fruits/Seeds:Fruit
is a capsule, which splits open along partitions, with numerous
flattened seeds inside.
Leaves: Sego
lilies have a few basal grass-like leaves, and leafy stems. It can
be distinguished from death camas (prior to flowering) by the rounded
trough-like cross section of their U-shaped leaves, as opposed to
the sharply V-shaped leaf of deathcamas.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Sego
lily occurs on the open sagebrush foothills and valleys, as well
as in open ponderosa pine stands at moderate elevations.
Soils: It
thrives on rather dry, sandy soils.
Associated Species:
Sagebrush,
ponderosa pine, death
camas, lupine.
Uses and
Management:
The
forage value of sego lily is limited, chiefly due to the small amount
of herbage and the sparseness of the stands. When eaten, the palatability
of the herbage is good for sheep and fair for cattle. Horses do
not graze it. The bulbs are eaten, and also gathered and stored
by pocket gopher and other rodents.
Western Indians deemed the bulb-like roots of sego lily a great
delicacy. They taught the Mormon pioneers to use the bulb for badly
needed food. This resulted in the sego lily being designated as
the Utah State Flower.
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