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Calochortus superbus; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-06-05

Calochortus superbus Purdy ex Howell

Yellow mariposa; Superb Mariposa Lily

Liliaceae · California · listed by its family as a bulb, tuber or caudex

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Calochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCalochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCalochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCalochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCalochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCalochortus superbus, photograph author not stated, no rights reserved 105 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
2.7°C
Jan at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (the weather cell's ground is too far off) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
33°C
Jul at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,033mm
8 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
13–53DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes November to March, read as a winter growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Calochortus superbus is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name superb mariposa lily. It is endemic to California, a common member of the flora in several types of habitat across much of the state. It is most abundant in the Coast Ranges and in the Foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Calochortus superbus", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex, listed under the family Liliaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “bulbous geophyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (814 mm of 1,024 mm) falls in November to March, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 8.8 °C against a yearly mean of 15.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: May to September.

Rain

1,024 mm in the median year at the habitat, 814 mm of it November to March. Wettest month December at 188 mm, driest month July at 2 mm; 2 months under 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 666 mm to 1,504 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,033 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,024 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 13 to 53 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 11, the highest 90th-percentile month 53).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 2.7 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -0.1 °C to 4.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 32.8 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 2.7 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, January, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell whose ground is too far above or below the typical spot to correct for, and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 45 to 58% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the family Liliaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “bulbous geophyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Calochortus superbus through the yearWarmest month July, mean daily high 33 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 2.7 °C; 1,024 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 13–53RH 45–58%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 393 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C12 / 9–1414 / 10–1516 / 13–1820 / 16–2124 / 21–2729 / 25–3233 / 29–3632 / 29–3529 / 26–3124 / 20–2516 / 13–1712 / 9–13
Night °C3 / 0–44 / 0–55 / 2–77 / 3–910 / 7–1214 / 11–1717 / 14–2016 / 13–1914 / 12–1710 / 8–126 / 3–73 / 0–4
Rain mm187 / 124–268168 / 115–237147 / 100–21579 / 49–11842 / 24–6513 / 6–232 / 0–73 / 2–615 / 8–2456 / 34–86124 / 72–195188 / 115–291
DLI15 / 13–1820 / 19–2430 / 28–3339 / 38–4247 / 46–4952 / 51–5353 / 52–5348 / 47–4838 / 37–4027 / 26–3017 / 15–2113 / 11–17
RH %57 / 55–6158 / 56–6057 / 55–6054 / 51–5751 / 47–5547 / 44–5145 / 40–4945 / 41–5046 / 43–5050 / 47–5255 / 53–5857 / 55–60

The daily extremes were not used: the correction for elevation, -1035 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's. So no cold floor is read for this species, and the coldest month's mean nightly low is not taken as one. What that cell gave, so corrected, over 44 years: absolute minimum -12.1 °C, 1st-percentile night -3.0 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 393 grid cells holding the 924 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1069:1221 (36.525, -118.925). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 393 distinct grid cells holding 924 of the 924 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1069:1221 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 36.50_-118.750, lapse-corrected -1035 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 713 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCalifornia · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker39.298, -121.197 · in the densest population, 638 records (58% of those in range)
Kew's description“bulbous geophyte” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1098 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 924 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 175 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 133 km away. 2 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 174 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1098 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Calochortus superbus, photograph 1did not loadCalochortus superbus, photograph 2did not loadCalochortus superbus, photograph 3did not loadCalochortus superbus, photograph 4did not loadCalochortus superbus, photograph 5did not loadCalochortus superbus, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (6).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Selaginella hansenii Selaginella hansenii Hansen's spikemoss Photo: CC BY, harriiCercis occidentalis Cercis occidentalis California redbud Photo: CC BY, Andrew PoganyDichelostemma volubile Dichelostemma volubile Snake-lily Photo: CC BY, average_plant_enjoyerSairocarpus cornutus Sairocarpus cornutus Spurred snapdragon Photo: CC BY, Adam J. SearcyStyrax redivivus Styrax redivivus California snowdrop bush Photo: CC BY, Amelia Tauber Hesperocyparis macnabiana Cupressaceae

Other Calochortus 34 in the reference

Calochortus albus Calochortus albus White globe-lily Photo: CC BY, Konshau DumanCalochortus amabilis Calochortus amabilis Diogenes' lantern Photo: CC BY, wildflowerwatchingCalochortus amoenus Calochortus amoenus Purple fairy-lantern Photo: CC0, author not statedCalochortus apiculatus Calochortus apiculatus Pointed-tip mariposa lily Photo: CC BY, Daughter DadCalochortus argillosus Calochortus argillosus Clay mariposa lily Photo: CC0, author not statedCalochortus aureus Calochortus aureus Golden mariposa lily Photo: CC BY, Martin PurdyCalochortus barbatus Calochortus barbatus Liliaceae Photo: CC BY, Víctor Manuel Vargas MatusCalochortus bruneaunis Calochortus bruneaunis Bruneau mariposa lily Photo: CC BY, glittergravelCalochortus catalinae Calochortus catalinae Catalina mariposa-lily Photo: CC0, author not statedCalochortus clavatus Calochortus clavatus Clubhair mariposa lily Photo: CC0, author not statedCalochortus eurycarpus Calochortus eurycarpus White mariposa lily Photo: CC BY, Todd PattersonCalochortus flexuosus Calochortus flexuosus Winding mariposa lily Photo: CC BY, Johnny C all 35 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Calochortus luteus var. citrinus; Calochortus luteus var. robustus; Calochortus pratensis; Calochortus superbus var. pratensis; Calochortus venustus var. citrinus and 4 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Liliaceae
Described by
Purdy ex Howell
Native to
California
Wild records
1098 in range · 175 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 3 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (3 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 36.50_-118.750, lapse-corrected -1035 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: the correction for elevation, -1035 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's, so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 39 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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