Erythronium oregonum
Erythronium grandiflorum
deer's tongue, giant fawn-lily, giant white fawn-lily, Oregon fawn-lily, white fawn lily, wild Easter lily
dogtooth fawn lily, glacier-lily, yellow avalanche-lily, yellow fawn-lily, yellow glacier lily
narrowly ovoid, 25–60 mm, sometimes producing sessile offsets.
slender, 30–50 mm.
12–25 cm;
blade distinctly mottled with irregular streaks of brown or white, ovate to broadly lanceolate, margins wavy.
5–20 cm;
blade green, lanceolate, ± glaucous, base gradually narrowed to petiole, margins ± wavy.
± reddish, 15–40 cm.
5–30 cm.
1–3-flowered.
usually 1-flowered, sometimes up to 5-flowered.
tepals white to creamy white with yellow base at anthesis, sometimes pinkish in age, sometimes with red lines or bands, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 25–40 mm, inner with small auricles at base;
stamens 12–25 mm;
filaments white, flattened, ± lanceolate, 2–3 mm wide;
anthers cream to yellow;
style white, 12–18 mm;
stigma with recurved lobes 3–6 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.
oblong to narrowly obovoid, 3–5 cm.
oblong to narrowly obovoid, 2–5 cm.
= 24.
= 24.
Erythronium oregonum
Erythronium grandiflorum
Forms from the southern part of the range with cream-white tepals and pale anthers have been described as subsp. leucandrum. This species is closely related to E. revolutum and occasionally hybridizes with it where their ranges meet. In addition, E. citrinum and E. hendersonii are reported to hybridize with E. oregonum in the southern part of its range.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
1. Tepals white to creamy white, with yellow zone at base; anthers cream to yellow. | subsp. candidum |
1. Tepals bright yellow, with narrow paler zone at base; anthers cream, yellow, red, or purplish red. | subsp. grandiflorum |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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