Ma`ri*po"sa lil`y (?). [Sp. mariposa a butterfly + E. lily. So called from the gay apperance of the blossoms.] Bot.

One of a genus (Calochortus) of tuliplike bulbous herbs with large, and often gaycolored, blossoms. Called also butterfly lily. Most of them are natives of California.

 

© Webster 1913.