STATE FLOWER
Utah's State Flower: Sego Lily
The sego lily has been Utah's state flower since 1911, honored not just for its beauty but for once literally keeping settlers alive.
A Flower That Fed a State
The sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii) is a bulbous perennial native to Utah's sagebrush valleys and foothills, with a white, yellow, or lilac bloom. Its selection is rooted in hard history: during a severe food crisis brought on by a cricket invasion in the mid-1800s, settlers survived in part by eating the plant's edible bulbs, a debt of gratitude later honored with the flower's official status.
QUICK FACT
The Ute people first used the sego lily's bulbs as a food source, and Mormon pioneers later adopted the practice after learning it from them.
