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Erythronium montanum

avalanche-lily, white avalanche-lily, white glacier lily

Bulbs

narrowly ovoid, 25–60 mm.

Leaves

10–20 cm;

blade green, ovate to broadly lanceolate, base ± abruptly narrowed to petiole, margins wavy.

Scape

12–35 cm.

Inflorescences

1–3-flowered.

Flowers

tepals white to creamy white with bright yellow zone at base, broadly ovate to broadly lanceolate, 25–45 mm, inner wider than outer, auriculate at base, length less than 4 times width;

stamens 12–24 mm;

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

anthers bright yellow;

style white, 13–25 mm;

stigma with slender, usually recurved lobes 1–5 mm.

Capsules

oblong, 3–6 cm.

2n

= 24.

Erythronium montanum

Phenology Flowering summer, usually soon after snowmelt (Jun–Aug).
Habitat Montane and subalpine meadows, open coniferous forests
Elevation (300–)800–2000 m ((1000–)2600–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

This species occurs in the Coast Ranges of southern British Columbia, and disjunctly to southern Vancouver Island, the Olympic Peninsula, and Cascade Mountains from Mount Rainier National Park in Washington to central Oregon.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 157.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Erythronium
Sibling taxa
E. albidum, E. americanum, E. californicum, E. citrinum, E. elegans, E. grandiflorum, E. helenae, E. hendersonii, E. klamathense, E. mesochoreum, E. multiscapideum, E. oregonum, E. pluriflorum, E. propullans, E. purpurascens, E. pusaterii, E. quinaultense, E. revolutum, E. rostratum, E. taylorii, E. tuolumnense, E. umbilicatum
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 26: 130. (1891)
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