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Erythronium grandiflorum

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(Redirected from White glacier lily) Plant species in the lily family

Erythronium grandiflorum
In Mount Rainier National Park
Conservation status

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Tribe: Lilieae
Genus: Erythronium
Species: E. grandiflorum
Binomial name
Erythronium grandiflorum
Pursh
Synonyms
List
    • Erythronium giganteum Lindl.
    • Erythronium leptopetalum Rydb.
    • Erythronium maximum Douglas ex Baker
    • Erythronium nudipetalum Applegate
    • Erythronium obtusatum Goodd.
    • Erythronium pallidum (H.St.John) G.N.Jones
    • Erythronium parviflorum (S.Watson) Goodd.
    • Erythronium speciosum Nutt. ex Baker
    • Erythronium utahense Rydb.

Erythronium grandiflorum is a North American species of plants in the lily family. It is known by several common names, including yellow avalanche lily, glacier lily, and dogtooth fawn lily. The Ktunaxa name for glacier lily is maxa.

Description

Erythronium grandiflorum grows from a deep bulb (or corm) which is 3 to 5 centimeters wide. Its two green leaves are wavy-edged and up to 20 centimeters long. The stalk may reach 30 centimeters tall and bears one to three showy flowers. Each flower has bright lemon yellow petals, white stamens with large white to yellow to red anthers, and a white style.

Taxonomy

Erythronium grandiflorum is classified in genus Erythronium in the family Liliaceae. It has no subspecies or varieties according to Plants of the World Online (POWO). The subspecies Erythronium grandiflorum subsp. candidum, though found in Flora of North America, is considered to be a species named Erythronium idahoense.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta south to New Mexico and California, though it has not been reported from Arizona or Nevada. It can be found in subalpine mountain meadows, slopes, and clearings.

Ecology

The flower is pollinated by bumblebees and other bees. The bulbs are an important and preferred food of the grizzly bear. Mule deer readily eat the foliage.

After hummingbirds migrate 1,500 miles each year from Mexico to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado they collect energy from the nectar of the lilies, however, rising temperatures from global warming cause the flowers to bloom, and also to wither, earlier each year. As of 2023, the danger is foreseen that in 20 years the birds may arrive from their long migration to find their usually reliable nourishment unavailable because of premature withering.

Uses

The bulbs can be eaten cooked or raw to avoid starvation (though they can cause nausea this way). The leaves and flowers are also edible raw or cooked.

Gallery

Red anthersWhite anthersYellow anthersAnther color variation

References

  1. NatureServe (3 January 2025). "Erythronium grandiflorum". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  3. Jepson Manual Treatment
  4. United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
  5. "FirstVoices- Ktunaxa. Plants: food plants: words". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  6. "Yellow Avalanche Lily, Erythronium grandiflorum". calscape.org.
  7. Allen, Geraldine A.; Robertson, Kenneth R. (5 November 2020). "Erythronium grandiflorum". Flora of North America. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. "Erythronium idahoense H.St.John & G.N.Jones". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  9. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  10. Clennett, C. (2014). The genus Erythronium: 1-158. Kew Publishing, Kew.
  11. Pursh, Frederick Traugott. 1814. Flora Americae Septentrionalis 1: 231
  12. Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. 1: 1–914. In C. L. Hitchcock Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
  13. Applegate, Elmer Ivan. 1933.
  14. "Ice". Evolution Earth. Season 1. Episode 4. 22 October 2023. PBS.
  15. Reiner, Ralph E. (1969). Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies. Glacier Park, Inc. p. 36.
  16. Benoliel, Doug (2011). Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest (Rev. and updated ed.). Seattle, WA: Skipstone. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-59485-366-1. OCLC 668195076.
  17. Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.

External links

Taxon identifiers
Erythronium grandiflorum
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