Ethnobotany. A food for many Amerindian Peoples: the bulbs were eaten raw or roasted.

Description by the California Native Plant Society. Calochortus nudus is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name naked mariposa lily. It is native to the mountains of northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in wet areas such as meadows and lakeside bogs. It is a perennial herb producing an unbranching stem up to about 25 centimeters tall. The basal leaf is 5 to 15 centimeters long and does not wither at flowering. The flower cluster bears one or more erect, bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three small, pointed sepals and three wider petals all pinkish or lavender in color. The petals are mostly hairless and about 1.5 centimeters long. The fruit is a capsule about 2 centimeters long.