Yellow Glacier Lily
Soon after snowmelt on subalpine meadows yellow glacier lilies start to appear. Without much competition because of the early flowering time, slopes can be covered in waves of these graceful flowers. We try to hike to known avalanche lily meadows, keeping an eye on conditions to find the right timing for the show.
- Erythronium grandiflorum is a perennial growing to about 30 cm from a slender, scaly bulb.
- Each flowering plant has two basal (10 – 20 com) oblong, smooth green leaves.
- Stems (25 – 25 cm tall) are smooth and leafless above the basal pair with a single inflorescence at the end.
- Flowers are yellow to golden (they fade over time) and drooping.
- 6 distinct lanceolate petals curve backwards. Six white or yellow stamens point downwards.
- Glacier lilies are also called avalanche lilies.
- Click on a photo for information on location and date. All photos taken by the author/owner.
- Seeds/fruits are borne in cylindrical capsules, turning brown and papery with age.
- Glacier lilies are a favorite food of bears. We have seen them digging up the corms in meadows. They sometimes leave the corms on the ground to “sweeten.” We once had a grizzly face us and make feint charges when we disturbed its lily feast.
- Some First Nations people dug up, aged, and cooked the bulbs as food.
- Glacier lilies grown in wet alpine meadows, in subalpine glades, and in higher wet and protected areas in the alpine.
Locally, we head to Neskonlith Meadows in April for the display, but the actual dates depend on the timing of the snowmelt. We can expect a good display of the flowers in subalpine meadows in a number of locations in June, our favorite being the Trophy Meadows in Wells Gray.
