Erythronium hendersonii |
Erythronium grandiflorum |
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Henderson's fawn-lily |
dogtooth fawn lily, glacier-lily, yellow avalanche-lily, yellow fawn-lily, yellow glacier lily |
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Bulbs | slender, 40–55 mm. |
slender, 30–50 mm. |
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Leaves | 10–25 cm; blade mottled with irregular streaks of brown or white, oblong to ovate, margins entire to ± wavy. |
5–20 cm; blade green, lanceolate, ± glaucous, base gradually narrowed to petiole, margins ± wavy. |
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Scape | reddish, 12–30 cm. |
5–30 cm. |
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Inflorescences | 1–4-flowered. |
usually 1-flowered, sometimes up to 5-flowered. |
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Flowers | tepals violet to pink, darker at tips, dark purple at base, broadly lanceolate, 18–35 mm, inner with small auricles at base; stamens 10–14 mm; filaments violet-purple, linear, slender, less than 0.8 mm wide; anthers pale brown to purple; style violet, 6–8 mm; stigma unlobed or with lobes shorter than 1 mm. |
tepals recurved, bright yellow with (in live specimens) narrow paler zone at base, or white to creamy white with yellow base, narrowly ovate, 20–35 mm, length at least 4 times width, inner usually auriculate at base; stamens 11–18 mm; filaments white, ± slender, linear, less than 0.8 mm wide; anthers cream, yellow, red, or purplish red; pollen yellow or red; style white, 10–15 mm; stigma unlobed or with slender, recurved lobes (1–)2–4 mm. |
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Capsules | obovoid, 2–4 cm. |
oblong to narrowly obovoid, 2–5 cm. |
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2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
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Erythronium hendersonii |
Erythronium grandiflorum |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Mar–Apr). | |||||
Habitat | Dry woods and forest openings | |||||
Elevation | 300–1600 m (1000–5200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; OR
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w North America
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). This beautiful species is often very abundant in mountain meadows of western North America, especially in the Rocky Mountains, where it may form spectacular displays. It is often difficult to grow in cultivation outside its preferred habitats. Bulbs of this species were a staple food for native North American peoples of several tribes, and were eaten in large quantities and also traded. Within the typical subspecies, both anthers and pollen vary considerably in color; plants with pale anthers have been called var. pallidum, and forms with yellow anthers, var. chrysandrum. Plants possessing very short stigma lobes and lacking auricles on the tepals have been recognized as var. nudipetalum, but they do not appear sufficiently distinct to warrant taxonomic recognition and may simply represent depauperate forms. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 160. | FNA vol. 26, p. 156. | ||||
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Erythronium | Liliaceae > Erythronium | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 22: 479. (1887) | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 231. (1814) | ||||
Web links |