The common name “Sego” is thought to be a Shoshone word meaning “edible bulb.” During the harsh winter of 1848-49, Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley turned to eating sego lily bulbs to survive. Drought and cricket invasions devastated their grain fields and reduced their harvest. Local Native Americans showed the pioneers how to dig and eat the nutritious bulbs raw, steamed, baked or ground into meal.
By the 1880s, these first pioneers became known as “bulbeaters,” a badge of honor indicating their attendance during the first hard years of colonizing the Salt Lake Valley.
To honor this beautiful flower’s stature in the state’s history, the Utah State legislature designated the sego lily as the State Flower of Utah on March 18, 1911.
Sego lilies grow throughout the Intermountain West from around 3700 to 9500 feet in elevation. Often growing in sagebrush or pinyon-juniper woodlands, the plants may also be found in grasslands or ponderosa pine forests. The plants bloom from late March through July, depending upon elevation.
During years of significant winter or springtime moisture, sego lilies in bloom may blanket the area. In contrast, during times of drought these wildflowers may lie dormant in the ground and not produce even leaves.
Calochortus nuttallii
From the underground bulbs arise several stiff, grass-like leaves in the early spring. The plants grow from 6 to 18 inches tall. The flowering stems bear 1 to 5 cup-shaped flowers that are 1 to 2 inches wide. Ranging in color from white to lavender, the 3 broad petals have a pointed tip. The base of each petal bears a brownish-purple crescent mark that arches over a nectar gland that is surrounded by numerous yellow hairs. Attracting bees and beetles as pollinators, the flowers fade to a pink color after pollination. The plants propagate from seeds, but take 3 to 5 years to develop into flowering bulbs
The generic name Calochortus derives from the Greek kallos, meaning, “beautiful” and chorta, meaning, “grass.” The species name nuttallii honors Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859), an English ornithologist, botanist, printer and savvy traveler who collected the plant along the Missouri River in 1811 while on a expedition with the “Overland Astorians” heading to the Pacific Coast.
In 1941, Karl E. Fordham wrote a poem, ‘The Sego Lily’, that was popular with Mormon servicemen and women fighting in World War II. One verse went:
“Sego lily of the valley, sego lily colors rare
In the beauty peaceful emblem on hillside so fair
Then we’ll sing our song ‘Praise to thee’
Flowers giv’n heav’n tenderly.”
Today, the sego lily represents the flower of peace and is part of Utah State Flag emblem.
Sources:
Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993.
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