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Erythronium montanum

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

Sierra fawn-lily, Sierra foothills fawn-lily

Bulbs

narrowly ovoid, 25–60 mm.

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

Leaves

10–20 cm;

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

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

oblong, 3–6 cm.

obovoid, 2–5 cm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Erythronium montanum

Erythronium multiscapideum

Phenology Flowering summer, usually soon after snowmelt (Jun–Aug). Flowering spring (Mar–Apr).
Habitat Montane and subalpine meadows, open coniferous forests Open woods, brushy slopes, sometimes on serpentines
Elevation (300–)800–2000 m ((1000–)2600–6600 ft) 400–1000 m (1300–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch 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.)

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. 157. FNA vol. 26, p. 161.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Erythronium 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
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 Fritillaria multiscapidea
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 26: 130. (1891) (Kellogg) A. Nelson & Kennedy: Muhlenbergia 3: 137. (1908)
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