Alternate name: Yellow Avalanche-lily, Yellow Fawn-lily, Dogtooth Violet
Family: Liliaceae, Lily view all from this family
Description 1-5 pale to golden yellow flowers hang at end of a stalk that grows from between 2 broadly lanceolate basal leaves.
Flowers: 6 lanceolate petal-like segments 1-2" (2.5-5 cm) long that curve back behind base of flower; stamens 6, protruding from center.
Leaves: 4-8" (10-20 cm) long, gradually tapered to a broad stalk.
Fruit: swollen 3-sided capsule.
Height: 6-12" (15-30 cm).
Flower March-August.
Habitat Sagebrush slopes and mountain forest openings, often near melting snow.
Range Southern British Columbia to northern Oregon; east to western Colorado, Wyoming, and western Montana.
Discussion This species often blooms as snow recedes. A form with white or cream petal-like segments with a band of golden yellow at the base grows in southeastern Washington and adjacent Idaho. A second species with bright yellow flowers. Mother Lode Fawn Lily (E. tuolumnense), grows in woodland at low elevations on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in central California.
