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Erythronium citrinum

citrus fawn lily, cream fawn lily, lemon color fawn lily, lemon fawn lily, pale fawn-lily

Sierra fawn-lily, Sierra foothills fawn-lily

Bulbs

slender, 40–50 mm, sometimes producing sessile offsets.

ovoid, 20–50 mm, producing bulbels (usually 1–3 per parent bulb) at ends of long, slender stolons.

Leaves

9–15 cm;

blade mottled with irregular streaks of brown or white, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, margins ± wavy.

4–16 cm;

blade mottled with irregular streaks of brown or white, ± lanceolate, margins entire to wavy.

Scape

12–35 cm.

8–23 cm, branching just above leaves near ground level when flowers more than 1.

Inflorescences

1–3-flowered.

1–4-flowered.

Flowers

tepals ± white, often pinkish, usually pale yellow at base, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 25–45 mm, inner with or without small auricles at base;

stamens 11–17 mm;

filaments linear, white or pinkish, slender, less than 0.8 mm wide;

anthers white, cream, pink, reddish, or brownish red;

style straight, white or pink, 6–10 mm;

stigma unlobed or with lobes shorter than 1 mm.

flowering individuals generally uncommon in populations, most plants 1-leaved and vegetative;

tepals white to cream with yellow base, broadly lanceolate to elliptic, 16–40 mm, inner with small auricles at base;

stamens 10–15 mm;

filaments white, linear, slender, less than 0.8 mm wide;

anthers white to cream;

style white, 10–13 mm;

stigma unlobed or with recurved lobes 1–4 mm.

Capsules

obovoid, 2–5 cm.

obovoid, 2–5 cm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Erythronium citrinum

Erythronium multiscapideum

Phenology Flowering spring (Mar–May). Flowering spring (Mar–Apr).
Habitat Dry woods, brushy slopes, common on serpentine substrates Open woods, brushy slopes, sometimes on serpentines
Elevation 100–1300 (–1800) m (300–4300 (–5900) ft) 400–1000 m (1300–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Plants lacking auricles on inner tepals are sometimes segregated as Erythronium howellii, Howell’s fawn-lily, but they do not appear to differ from typical E. citrinum in any other characters. Erythronium citrinum intergrades with E. californicum and E. hendersonii, occasional populations or individuals displaying intermediate or recombined characteristics. Such plants from the upper Scott River drainage in Trinity County, California, which may be the result of introgression with E. hendersonii, have been recognized as variety roderickii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Erythronium multiscapideum is unusual among western species (and resembles some eastern species) in its tendency to reproduce vegetatively through the production of bulbels at the ends of stolons. It is similar in many respects to E. californicum and sometimes intergrades with it, resulting in occasional populations with the bulb characteristics of one species and the inflorescence branching pattern of the other.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 160. FNA vol. 26, p. 161.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Erythronium Liliaceae > Erythronium
Sibling taxa
E. albidum, E. americanum, E. californicum, E. elegans, E. grandiflorum, E. helenae, E. hendersonii, E. klamathense, E. mesochoreum, E. montanum, E. multiscapideum, E. oregonum, E. pluriflorum, E. propullans, E. purpurascens, E. pusaterii, E. quinaultense, E. revolutum, E. rostratum, E. taylorii, E. tuolumnense, E. umbilicatum
E. albidum, E. americanum, E. californicum, E. citrinum, E. elegans, E. grandiflorum, E. helenae, E. hendersonii, E. klamathense, E. mesochoreum, E. montanum, E. oregonum, E. pluriflorum, E. propullans, E. purpurascens, E. pusaterii, E. quinaultense, E. revolutum, E. rostratum, E. taylorii, E. tuolumnense, E. umbilicatum
Synonyms E. citrinum var. roderickii, E. howellii Fritillaria multiscapidea
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 22: 480. (1887) (Kellogg) A. Nelson & Kennedy: Muhlenbergia 3: 137. (1908)
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