Sego Lily

The Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is Utah's state flower and blooms from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in grasslands, open woodlands, and semi-deserts from May to August. Flowers are solitary, or part of small clusters, of up to four. Flowers are erect rather than pendent, and they have an open, bell-shaped outline. The three sepals are narrow, greenish yellow underneath, and a little shorter than the petals, which are white, sometimes pale pink, with a faint, vertical, greenish stripe on the outer surface. Petals are yellow at the base, around the circular nectar gland, which is densely covered with white hairs, branched and unbranched, and ringed by longer, straggly yellow and purple hairs. Above the gland is an arc of purple, or reddish-brown. The base of the sepals also have yellow and reddish markings. The pictures below were mostly taken in three locations: about a mile from my house near the base of 4-mile hill just south of Price, on the way to Buckhorn Wash between Castledale and the pictograph panels there, and on the north side of the summit between interstate 70 and Loa on Highway 72.

This is the Sego Lily when full open. Earlier, the three petals point mostly upward and their edges tend to overlap, forming a tulip shaped flower. The Doubting Mariposa Lily, Calochortus Ambiguus, is very similar but has purple-maroon anthers, while the Sego Lily has yellow anthers.

Many Sego Lily plants sport single flowers but occasionally one can be found with 2, 3, or even 4 blossoms. This one has three, two of which are being visited by insects.

The Sego Lily plant sports narrow, linear, basil leaves, which usually wither before the flowers appear, making the plants appear to be little more than a flower on top of a stem with very narrow stem leaves as well.