Similar in appearance to the segolily, State flower of Utah, weakstem
mariposa, sometimes called “straggling butterfly lily,” varies in color
from white to pale purple. The slender stem is not erect, like other
mariposas, of which there are many species, but wanders over the ground
or makes its twisting way among the branches of low shrubs. It grows at
elevations up to 4,000 feet on slopes and benches of mountains of the
Mojave-Colorado Desert, in the Death Valley area, and in the desert
mountains of southern Arizona, blossoming during April and May. Indians
and pioneers ate the bulbs.
_Calochortus flexuosus_ Lily Family
[Illustration: MARIPOSA]