Distribution: Occurring in Whitman County in Washington; Washington to adjacent areas of Idaho and northeast Oregon.
Habitat: Meadows at low elevation.
Flowers: June-July
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Endangered in Washington (WANHP)
Pollination: Bees, beetles
Perennial herb from a deep-seated bulb, the stem erect, 2-4 dm. tall.
Basal leaf flat, 1-3 dm. long and 10-25 mm. broad, becoming involute, not exceeding the inflorescence; single reduced cauline leaf about mid-stem.
Umbel 1-4 flowered; flowers large, erect, purplish, with a deep purple crescent on each petal above the gland; sepals 3, shorter than the petals, ovate to lanceolate, pointed, glabrous; petals 3, obovate or oblanceolate, wedge-shaped at the base, gland lunate, covered with short, thick processes and banded below with a fringed membrane; stamens 6, style short, stigma trifid, persistent.
Capsule broadly elliptic, erect, 3-winged.
Publication: Trans. Hort. Soc. London. 7: 277, plate 9A. 1828.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Calochortus nitidus in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Calochortus nitidus checklist entry
OregonFlora: Calochortus nitidus information
E-Flora BC: Calochortus nitidus atlas page
CalPhotos: Calochortus nitidus photos
