In the heat of the California spring sunshine, as we crested the hill, my eyes spotted it, finally, the sinuous stems danced among the grass as the petals of the flower flailed to and fro atop their stilted pedestal, high above the desert gravel. Sitting before me, in golden splendor, was a wildflower I count among my favorites; Weed's Mariposa lily (Calochortus weedii weedii). This magnificent yellow flower does not occur in the same abundance as its pink/purple geo counterpart Calochortus splendans. 

Like many bulb-growing plants, many Calochortus species were cultivated by native tribes for food. A source close to this species writes that almost half of the Golden State’s native species are “rare, endangered, threatened or in decline.” 

This is Jack Smellington, not pictured is the sibling to Jack, the incomparable (smelling) Stinking Beauty. Both of these behemoths reside full-time at the San Diego Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, CA. In 2021, each of these big beautiful bastards went into flower and opened within a few weeks of each other.