Queen’s Cup
Queen’s Cup (Clintonia uniflora) is a perennial in the lily family.
- Clintonia grows from rhizomes and grows to about 15 cm.
- The flowering stalks have no leaves.
- Basal leaves are oblong, slightly shiny, sometimes lightly hairy, and fleshy to the touch.
- Solitary white, hairy, terminal cup-shaped flowers stand above the leaves
- Blue berries form over the summer. The leaves die back in the fall.
- Queen’s cup can be found in the middle elevation forests of our area, where the soils are moist, especially east and north of Kamloops.
- Other names for Clintonia are blue-bead clintonia and bride’s bonnet.
The first flowers emerge at the end of March and the succeeding months bring waves of wildflowers through spring and into summer. In late spring we look for the emergence of queen’s cup as we hike through the hills, then in the fall, we watch for the single blue berries to complete the cycle of dormancy, growth, flowering, and fruiting.