Liliaceæ
Lily Family
Plants with bulbs or corms but never rootstocks; leaves either at the base or in whorls or pairs on the stem; the flowers brightly coloured, frequently large, borne singly or in clusters at the summit of the frequently naked stem, the six parts though usually distinct, sometimes more or less united into a tube; stamens 6; stigma 3-lobed.
| Bracts of the inflorescence thin and translucent. | Allium. |
| Bracts of the inflorescence leaf-like or none. | |
| Bulbs scaly. | Lilium. |
| Bulbs corm-like. | Erythronium. |
Plant 12—15 inches high with an oblique base from an oblong-ovoid bulb. Leaves narrow and grass-like, 6—8 inches long, thick and half rounded on the back, the old ones persistent and forming a mat at the surface of the ground. Flowers numerous, on slender pedicels, in a nodding terminal head; sepals and petals ¼ of an inch long, elliptic-ovate and obtuse, rosy pink with a darker mid-vein; stamens and styles exserted, anthers pale yellow.
Frequent throughout the Rockies on dry grassy or stony slopes and slides; flowering in June.
Tofieldia intermedia Rydb. (⅔ Nat.)
False Asphodel.
Vagnera stellata (L.) Morong. (¼ Nat.)
Star-Flowered Solomon’s Seal.
Stem 1—2 feet high from a narrowly ovoid bulb, with a single, elongated, round, hollow, basal leaf and 1 or 2 similar leaves on the stem. Flowers numerous in a compact round head; the sepals and petals about ½ an inch long, slender, with a tapering tip, bright rose-purple with a darker mid-vein; stamens much shorter than the perianth segments.
Not infrequent in moist open places throughout the Rockies; flowering in July.
Stem 12—18 inches high, rather stout, from a depressed globose bulb an inch in diameter. Leaves alternate except the uppermost which are in a whorl of 5—7, dark green above, paler beneath, minutely roughened on the edges, lanceolate, tapering but slightly toward the sessile base. Flowers erect usually one, but sometimes several, on a stem; sepals and petals 2½ inches long, somewhat spreading, elliptic-oblong, tapering gradually toward both ends, the base contracted into a claw, which is less than ⅓ the length of the blade; blade reddish-orange on the inner face, paler near the base, which is dotted with numerous purplish-black spots; outer face less brilliant, largely suffused with green; stamens and stigma purplish.
Frequent throughout the Rockies on the edges of woods and in the lower river valleys; very abundant in early July in the valley of the Lower Kicking Horse and Columbia rivers from Golden to Donald.
A foot or more high from a deep-rooted, slender, membranous-coated corm. Leaves 2 or occasionally 3, opposite or in a whorl, broadly lanceolate, obtuse, 6—8 inches long, 2—3 inches wide, unequal, dull and glaucous green. Flowers 1—6, nodding, bright yellow, sepals and petals lanceolate 2 inches long, tapering to a slender, strongly reflexed tip; stamens exserted, anthers yellow or purplish-brown.
Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh. (½ Nat.)
Snow Lily.
This beautiful lily is frequent on the slides and mountain slopes throughout the region at an elevation of 5000 feet or higher, appearing immediately after the snows have melted, and lasting but a short time. It may be found flowering according to the elevation and condition of the snow, from May throughout the summer. The plant has derived its common name no doubt from its habit of blooming so close to the melting snows. Where the plant occurs it is usually found in great numbers during the brief flowering period.