Endemic Calachortus sp.
Should be blooming soon!
Species endemic and restricted to Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve, Tiburon, Marin County, California
Common name: Tiburon mariposa lily
CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 1B.1 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere). It is listed by the State of California as Threatened and by the Federal Government as Threatened
Photographed at Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve, Tiburon, Marin County, California
Second time trying to find this flower proved successful. They really are strange little things, in addition to being insanely rare (they only grow on Ring Mountain, I believe). They're fairly unassuming from a distance, brownish yellow, the same color as the surrounding grass, but they just get weirder and weirder as you draw closer.
To the woman I met along the trail: hike the Phyllis Ellman Trail, and look out for weird little brown flowers!
Calochortus tiburonensis, a rare and endangered species that grows only on Ring Mountain in Tiburon. More info here.
Calochortus tiburonensis (also known as the Tiburon Mariposa Lily) is a rare member of the genus Calochortus in the family Liliaceae. It was first brought to the attention of science in 1971, and written up in the botanical literature in 1973. Calochortus tiburonensis is endemic to a single serpentine outcrop in California's Marin County. It grows on serpentine-derived soil atop this outcrop in grasslands from 0-200 m. on Ring Mountain. It is considered threatened due to...
