 "Calochortus nuttallii" is a species within the genus "Calochortus", in a sub-group generally referred to as Mariposa Lilies.The specific epithet "nuttallii", named for the English botanist and zoologist, Thomas Nuttall, was ascribed to the species by the American botanists John Torrey and Asa Gray when it was officially described in 1857.A number of former varieties of "Calochortus nuttallii" have been reclassified as distinct species