sego lily

noun

1. a plant, Calochortus nuttallii, of the lily family, native to the western U.S., having showy, bell-shaped flowers: the state flower of Utah.
2. its edible root.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sego lily¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

It has gone through various updates, and includes images of an American bald eagle, arrows, sego lilies and a beehive on a white shield, the words “Industry” and “Utah.”

From Washington Times

Wildflowers crowded my wheels: blue flax and sego lily, golden pea and spiderwort.

From New York Times

Wood spies dried sego lily flowers and starts digging for something that helped sustain the Utah pioneers.

From Washington Times

The ephemeral bloom of a sego lily peeks from the toe of a ninety-foot stone arch, and canyon wrens call back and forth in plaintive tones from a thatch of scrub oak.

From Literature

Here we found a sego lily, one of the most beautiful of flowers.

From Project Gutenberg