The Splendid Mariposa Lily is native to California and Baja California where it is found primarily near the coast, in foothills and valleys and on the west slope of mountains. It is found in various habitats, including chaparral and woodland.
Of the species Liliaceae, that is the lily family, it is known by the scientific name Calochortus splendens, and grows from a bulb.
Usually found coming up among dense, low shrubs, herbs or grasses, it is thin-stemmed with few leaves, bearing flowers singly or in clusters of up to four. Each flower is ringed with smaller, ribbonlike, curling leaves. The bowl-shaped flowers are of varying shades of blue, pink, purple, lilac or lavender, with a spot of darker purple at the base of each petal. The flower may have numerous white hairs in the center and bright purple pollen.
This perennial has a stem which ranges to as much as two feet tall. The  basal leaves are four inches to six inches long and very narrow, usually withering early, at which point the cauline leaves shrink.  The campanulate flowers are narrow at the base, the sepals are acuminate, and the petals are obovate to cuneate.  The anthers are dark on filaments about a half inch long.
It flowers from March until July.
The occurrence and recurrence of fire has a bearing on the splendid mariposa lily’s proliferation. In the wild it blooms profusely following fire and then may not bloom again for years.
Upon being transplanted to a garden, the splendid mariposa lily will not bloom every year, as flowering requires considerable expenditure of stored energy from the bulb.