Lyall’s Mariposa Lily, AKA Cat’s
Ear Lily
Calochortus lyallii
I first heard about this species of
Mariposa lily in first or second year; I cannot remember which. It was mentioned
just as a passing comment by a professor (Lyn, I think), about there being a rare
variation on the Sagebrush Mariposa Lily that is so prevalent in the grasslands
around Kamloops. Apparently it only grew down south by the border – in the Boundary
region perhaps, or maybe down in the Okanagan.
This past summer I spent two months
taking soil samples in the grasslands throughout southern BC. Once we started
sampling in the Okanagan, I kept my eyes peeled for this lily, much to the
chagrin of my field partner. At the time, the Sagebrush Mariposa lilies were in
full bloom and spectacular… but I never once saw Lyall’s Mariposa lily.
One day we were heading to two
sampling sites very close to the Canada-US border – one was on the south side
of Kruger Mountain, the other was on the south side of Black Mountain. We
managed to get to the Kruger Mountain site easily enough, but on the way to the
Black Mountain site the road was flooded so we turned around. The next day we
drove on to the East Kootneys and I looked no more for this beguiling plant.
I did not think again of the Cat’s
Ear lily until a few days ago when I found an entry in the eFlora BC database (Klinkenberg
2013). Like most of the plants on eFlora, a map is provided showing the GPS
coordinates where the species has been observed in the past. On it I zoomed in…
and saw that one of the only places in all of BC (and for that matter, all of
Canada) that this species is found is on the south side of Black Mountain. In
the Chopaka region of the Okanagan-Similkameen. Less than 50 meters up the hill
from where we turned around this summer.
I was so close and yet so very far
away!
I suppose why I am sharing this
story of hunting and not finding this lily is because as a species, it raises a
unique conservation question.
In all of Canada, there are only five
populations of Lyall’s Mariposa lily, scattered on and around this one small
mountain in the Southern Okanagan. Because of a small population size and threats
from cattle grazing, this species was listed by COSEWIC in 2001 as threatened (Klinkenberg
2013, Miller 1999).
However, it is very abundant
further south in Washington and Oregon, so the species won’t be extinct if the
population on Black Mountain dies out. But the Black Mountain population is ours; it is Canadian.
Therefore, how do we approach the
conservation of this species given that in Canada it is endangered, while
throughout the entirety of North America it is doing quite fine (Encyclopedia
of Puget Sound 2011)?
Should we act to conserve this species
or not? How do we decide?
Miller, M. T., and G. W. Douglas.
1999. Status of Lyall’s Mariposa Lily, Calochortus lyallii (Liliacaeae), in
Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 113:652-658.
Klinkenberg, B. 2013. Calochortus lyallii Baker. E-Flora
BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver. Available from http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Calochortus%20lyalliii.
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.
2011. Calochortus lyallii. Puget Sound Institute. Available from http://www.eopugetsound.org/species/calochortus-lyallii
That's a very interesting question. If the lilies in the States were ever threatened, we would have no control over how they were dealt with, so it makes sense that we should be concerned with our own population. However, because they are thriving elsewhere I think it would be better to limit cattle grazing where they are found in Canada, but to not expend too many resources into their protection.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I wish it had a happy ending for you though.
ReplyDeleteYou raised an interesting question. Personally, I'd like to act to conserve this species, but it's all about time, money and what you're going to get out of it in the end. I feel like we could be focusing our efforts on endangered species only found here and do not have a thriving population elsewhere. It's a tough question for sure though.
Interesting blog like usual! It looks as if this lily didn't look at a map when setting up its digs. It's definitely another story when species are found across the line, but not on our own soil. If it's doing just fine in the States, I'm really not sure if time and money should be put in in Canada.
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog. Hope you find the lily someday
ReplyDeleteI agree, Moneet. Its hard to conserve everything, but how do you make that decision of what is "important". Its a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful flower. I love lilies. Maybe the seeds could be harvested and planted in other areas to see if we can grow new populations of them?
ReplyDeleteNice story. Sounds like that would have been a really cool summer job!
ReplyDeleteI say we try and save the ones we have. Lyall's Mariposa Lily is absolutely beautiful, and I would love for it to stay in Canada.
ReplyDeleteIf they are only in a very small area in Canada, then you would think that conserving them would take very little effort.
ReplyDeletegood question, does the lily have an ecological or social value?
ReplyDeletenice writing :) and interesting question. maybe we should try to gather some seeds somehow as a safety incase they do go extinct. that way there is a chance at reviving them??
ReplyDeletesorry for the late comment, just got back from Toronto and back to an internet connection! This is a very interesting post. Unfortunately I would have to agree with Moneet's outlook. Although preserving this Lyall's lily would be nice for the area at hand, I believe that efforts might be better placed conserving something that ONLY grows in Canada. This is my thoughts, only because the USA has a healthy population. I also agree with Mitchell! Having seeds preserved, either from our population or the USA's (or both!) would be a good alternative and a safety net.
ReplyDelete