Liliaceae
posted 05/05/12 - The only time I have ever found this lily before was during our wedding tree hike in 2009. I'm posting these photos, because they're a vast improvement from my original entry. The checker lily is generally not considered a rare plant, but it's rare to me. Based on this sighting, I told the president of our local CNPS chapter that I predicted this year was going to be a great flower year for our annual wildflower show. He was more concerned with how dry some areas of the county were. Turns out we had an unofficial species count of 715 blooming flowers, the second highest count in the 50+ years our wildflower show has been held. And, if my memory is correct, I believe 2009 was the highest count on record with over 735 spp. To put this into perspective, we usually have maybe 625-675 spp. in the show, and many other regional wildflower shows may have 100-400 spp. at the most.
6 comments:
I think the bulb and other perennial storage type plants have the advantage this dry year over the annuals and thus are more prevalent. I also agree these photos are fantastic with the light coming through the petals.
Rare to me too...and lovely photos for sure.
Nice photos Katie. Mission Bells are a great find. I don't see them very often, so I always consider it a good 'score'. I don't think they're rare as much as they are hard to spot because their coloration tends to camouflage them.
One time I saw these in the wild! So exciting. And one time a friend gave me an almost identical nursery plant...
Cindy, you may be right. I've been amazed at this year's proliferation of fairy lanterns (everywhere!), pretty faces, larkspurs, Douglas irises, and scarlet buglers... but the annual chick lupines and clarkias have had an impressive showing, too. Who's to say why? I simply enjoy them.
Jeannette and Gretchen, I know, right? It's a sweet thing to get excited about.
Randy, they are extremely difficult to spot in fresh green tall grasses. After my single 2009 find, I scoured that 20 foot spot for 3 years during our annual hike and failed to find any. I wonder if the timing of blooms this year has anything to do with my finally finding another one.
What a sweet flower. I love this
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