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deer's tongue, giant fawn-lily, giant white fawn-lily, Oregon fawn-lily, white fawn lily, wild Easter lily

Sierra fawn-lily, Sierra foothills fawn-lily

Bulbs

narrowly ovoid, 25–60 mm, sometimes producing sessile offsets.

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

Leaves

12–25 cm;

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

4–16 cm;

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

Scape

± reddish, 15–40 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 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.

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 to narrowly obovoid, 3–5 cm.

obovoid, 2–5 cm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Erythronium oregonum

Erythronium multiscapideum

Phenology Flowering spring (Mar–May). Flowering spring (Mar–Apr).
Habitat Open coniferous forests, rocky outcrops, oak woodlands, meadows Open woods, brushy slopes, sometimes on serpentines
Elevation 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) 400–1000 m (1300–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

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.)

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. 158. 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. montanum, E. multiscapideum, 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. giganteum subsp. leucandrum, E. oregonum subsp. leucandrum Fritillaria multiscapidea
Name authority Applegate: Madroño 3: 99. (1935) (Kellogg) A. Nelson & Kennedy: Muhlenbergia 3: 137. (1908)
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