White Globe Lily

The White Globe Lily is an upright, herbaceous plant with a long, draping stem stretching up to 30 inches in height. Growing from an underground bulb, the stem of this geophyte is surrounded by alternating basal leaves, which shorten and narrow further up the stem. However, the plant is hardly visible without its distinctive round flower. The plant sprouts one to several globe shaped flowers at the end of each arching stem. The globe-shaped flowers are composed of three larger overlapping petals, white to pale pink in color, with smaller, darker petals overlaying the top of the flower near the stem. The downy petals enclose the pollen and the plant’s ovaries. The drooping fruit is a distinctive three-sided, winged capsule.

Basic Information

• Member of the Lilaceae, or lily, family

• Perennial herb

• Geophyte, growing from an underground bulb

• There are two recognized varieties of this plant:

  • Calochortus albus var. albus

  • Calochortus albus var. rubellus

Habitat

• Native to the San Francisco Bay Area south along the coast to San Diego, as well as the Channel Islands and the northern Sierra foothills

  • Endemic to California

• Found in open wood and scrub, coastal bluffs, shaded grasslands, foothill woodlands, yellow pine forests, and chaparral ecosystems

Ecological Role

• Provides pollen and nectar for bees, beetles, and many other insects

Reproduction

• Blooms from late March to early July

Alternative Names

• Pink Fairy Lantern, White Fairy Lantern, White Globelily, fairy lantern, lantern of the fairies, globe lily, white globe-tulip, alabaster tulip, Indian bells

Historical Uses

• Native people ate the bulbs of this plant boiled, steamed, roasted, or baked in earthen ovens, or pounded the dry bulbs into a flower for a mush