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.Jepson Manual TreatmentUnited States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile 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.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map It can be found in subalpine mountain meadows, slopes, and clearings.Clennett, C. (2014). The genus Erythronium: 1-158. Kew Publishing, Kew.
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.Pursh, Frederick Traugott. 1814. Flora Americae Septentrionalis 1: 231Hitchcock, 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.Applegate, Elmer Ivan. 1933.
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 were traditionally an important food source for a number of western North American Indigenous Nations. They were harvested when the plants were in fruit and often pit cooked, then dried and stored. They can also be boiled.
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References
External links United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service, Index of Species Information Calphotos Photo gallery Northern Bushcraft