Calochortus--TOW--High Elevation Species
Jane McGary (Wed, 10 Nov 2004 09:42:00 PST)
After reading Diana's excellent summary of subalpine and inland Calochortus
species, I'm somewhat amazed that I've been able to grow any of them. My
climate, southeast of Portland, Oregon, at 1600 feet/500m elevation in the
Cascades foothills, is not particularly cold: most winters it doesn't go
below 15 F/-8 C, though about one winter in four is colder. I have
everything from C. catalinae (southern California coastal) to C. bruneaunis
in the same frame, treated the same way, so perhaps these inland species
are more adaptable than we may think -- as long as some climate control can
be maintained, here consisting of limiting overhead moisture (moisture
rising from the soil beneath is constant in winter, and unavoidable in my
system). Some specific comments on Diana's notes:
Calochortus leichtlinii - one of the more vigorous species I grow.
Calochortus bruneaunis --- This species occurs mainly in the mountain
ranges of the Great Basin, growing in very dry, cold conditions with very
high light intensity.
It doesn't get any of that here, but it has been flowering faithfully,
rather late in the season, for 6 or 7 years. I don't think it's suffering
in the typical low light of a western Oregon winter, since the stems remain
upright. It's definitely the happiest Rocky Mountain/Great Basin species I
grow.
Calochortus excavatus --- This lovely species superficially resembles
both C. leichtlinii and C. bruneaunis, and comes from a very restricted
area on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada in its southern end, around
Bishop and the Owens Valley. This, too, comes from very harsh desert
conditions with cold winters.
I was surprised when C. excavatus flowered here last spring, probably 7
years frow sowing. It does not seem vigorous but has survived. This gives
me hope for C. kennedyi and C. striatus, now present here as 3-year-old
seedlings.
Calochortus subalpinus --- This species is found in mountain meadow
habitats in the Cascade mountains of Oregon and Washington, where, unlike
the high altitude Mariposas, it occupies a range that receives very heavy
rainfall which occurs mostly in winter, but it is also exposed to summer
rains.
Actually, winter precipitation where this species grows is mostly in the
form of (very deep) snow. I have not seen it below the usual winter snow
line (i.e., where continuous snow cover begins) It's saturated in spring
after snowmelt, and brief summer thunderstorms. The soils where it grows
are volcanic and, where I've seen it, extremely rocky and well drained.
I've never been able to germinate the seed of this or of another nearly
local plant, C. macrocarpus. Good thing I can drive for an hour or so and
see them in the wild!
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA