Both Calochortus

Calochortus leichtlinii vs Calochortus nuttallii

These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 4 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.

Confused 4x by our model Same genus Calochortus Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Calochortus leichtlinii, photographed by Ben Hayden
fig. a Ben Hayden, CC BY 4.0

Calochortus leichtlinii

Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily
Calochortus nuttallii, photographed by Darrin Gobble
fig. b Darrin Gobble, CC BY 4.0

Calochortus nuttallii

Sego Lily

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Calochortus nuttallii Calochortus leichtlinii 4 of 19 (21%)

Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Both Liliaceae. The family does not separate them.
Genus Both Calochortus. Congeners, which is why this is hard.
Flowering Peaks in July versus June. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 4,064 and 1,620.)

What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.

Both recordsfull pages