Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database


Erythronium grandiflorum var. grandiflorum (Glacier Lily, Dogtooth Violet)

Kingdom

 Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom

 Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision

 Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division

 Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class

 Liliopsida – Monocotyledons

Subclass

 Liliidae

Order

 Liliales

Family

 Liliaceae – Lily family

Genus

 Erythronium L. – fawnlily

Species

 Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh – yellow avalanche-lily

Subspecies

 Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh ssp. grandiflorum – yellow avalanche-lily

This is a beautiful lily native to the western states and parts of British Columbia.

Glacier Lily adapts well in USDA zones 3-9, and will form colonies over time.

These lilies are found on slopes and in high elevation areas blooming as early as March just after the snow melts and as late as August.

The flower tepals are yellow and recurved and have either white or brown anthers depending on the location.

The leaves and stem are solid green without decorative markings and overall size depends on where they are found.

Within the Cascade Region it is not uncommon to find diminutive 6” Glacier Lilies, but east of the Cascade Mountains they can reach 1-2’.

They definitely prefer areas that receive a winter chill and good drainage. What a cheery site these early lilies are after a long winter.

               
   
Photos above: Left--by Eric 1961; Center--by Mike Cline; Right--by Walter Siegmund
Photos We Share!

It is our pleasure to share the photographs in this section with you under the Creative Commons License (see link below for details). We retain ownership of the photos but you may use them freely as long as you credit our website for them.

     

Creative Commons License
These photos by http://www.nwplants.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Contact:  star@chillirose.com ~ Copyright 2012 © Wallace W. Hansen ~ All rights reserved