Prairie fawn-lily
Erythronium mesochoreum Knerr
Images
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Morphology
- Stem
- Stemless. Scape spreading to erect.
- Leaves
- Basal, 1 in non-flowering individuals, 2 in flowering individuals, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, .2 to 5.6 inches long, .02 to 1 inch wide, parallel-veined, margins entire, surfaces usually not mottled, glaucous.
- Inflorescence
- Flowers solitary, terminal.
- Flower
- Flowers usually nodding, sometimes spreading; tepals 6, petal-like, distinct, white adaxially, with yellow spot at base, lanceolate, .4 to 1.2 inch, projecting to spreading, base without auricles; stamens 6, distinct, free, included to slightly exserted; pistil 1, 3-carpellate; style 1, not persistent on capsule; stigma 3-lobed.
- Fruit
- Capsules, obovoid, .4 to .66 inch, usually resting on ground at maturity; seeds brown, somewhat reniform, .08 to .12 inch.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Tallgrass prairies and open oak-hickory woodlands
- Distribution
- Principally east 1/3 of Kansas
Additional Notes
Comments
Nonflowering individuals propagate vegetatively by means of buds or vertical, subterranean stems, called droppers, that grow downward from the old corm and form new corms their tips. Flowering individuals also may form buds on the corm. Erythronium, red, alluding to the flowers of the type species and mesochoreum, middle and place, alluding to the distribution in the central U.S.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Wildflower
- Family
- Liliaceae - Lily Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 2-6 inches
- Origin
- Native
- Last Updated
- 2021-11-19
Color Groups
White, Green & Greenish White Wildflowers
Flowering Period
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Blooms: March, April