BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Erythronium grandiflorum | Glacier Lily 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Glacier lily is a member of the Liliaceae family and has an elongate,
deep-seated corm.  It has two basal leaves which will grow 4 to 10
inches (10-25 cm) long.  One to five flowering stems will arise from
these and grow 6 to 15 inches (15-40 cm) tall.  The nodding, yellow
flowers are large, with petals between 1 and 2 inches (3-4 cm) long
[6,14,26].  These flowers are radial, perfect, and choripetalous [25].
There are six large anthers which may be colored white, yellow, pink,
red, or deep reddish-purple [16].  The fruit is a three-angled capsule
between 1 and 2 inches (3-4 cm) long [26].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Flowers of glacier lily are mainly pollinated by bumblebees, although
other bees are also important.  They are occasionally pollinated by
hummingbirds [6].  Glacier lily has been found to be self-compatible in
Colorado, although fewer seeds were produced after selfing than after
outcrosses [6].  In Montana, both Erythronium grandiflorum var. candidum
and var. grandiflorum were found to be obligate outcrossers [12].  Once
the fruit matures and dehisces, seeds fall to the ground gradually as
the fruit is disturbed by wind or possibly animals [12].  The seeds
require 100 days of cold stratification before germination [12].  The
plant may also sprout from the corm [30].  Some individuals of
Erythronium spp. have been known to take up to 8 years to reach
reproductive maturity [12].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Glacier lily grows on moist slopes and in shaded areas [14].  It grows
in mountain brush, sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), aspen (Populus
tremuloides), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), spruce-fir, or wet meadow
zones [1,2,8,25,29,30,31].  It grows on fertile soils with high
moisture-holding capacity [1].  This species may often be found near
streams, lakes, seeps, bogs, snowchutes, or late-lying snowbanks.  The
last is an especially common site for glacier lily [10,25,26,31].  It is
more common on cooler, moister north slopes than south slopes [28].

Some elevational ranges for glacier lily are as follows [7,8,14,25,29].

      6,500 to 11,000 feet (2,100-3,700 m) in CO
      3,300 feet (1,100 m) in ID
      3,400 to 7,000 feet (1,100-2,300 m) in MT
      5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,675-3,115 m) in UT
      9,500 feet (2,900 m) in WY

The white glacier lily grows at elevations up to 6,462 feet (2,154 m) but
is usually found below 4,245 feet (1,415 m) [12].

In Utah, glacier lily is found in the mountain shrub zone with Gambel
oak (Quercus gambelii) and bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum).  In
Montana, Idaho, and Washington, it is often found in lodgepole pine and
spruce-fir forests with Englemann spruce (Picea englemannii), white
spruce (P. glauca), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), or grand fir (A.
grandis) [1,2,8,9,17,19,30,31].  In these areas, glacier lily is
commonly found with species such as baldhip rose (Rosa gymnocarpa),
white spirea (Spirea betulifolia), common snowberry (Symphoricarpos
albus), Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum), Nuttall violet (Viola
nuttallii), springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata), lupine (Lupinus spp.),
and huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.)  [4,10,19,25,28,30,31].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Glacier lily is present in early, mid-, or late seres.  It was present
on an Idaho stand 5 years following a fire [8].  It has also been found
in an 88-year-old Montana forest stand [17].  In Utah, glacier lily was
present in early as well as mid-successional communities [10].  Data
from a study in Idaho showed it was more common in old-growth forests
than in areas with recent wildfires [31].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Glacier lily is a vernal species, emerging very soon after snowmelt
[6,26].  Anthesis will occur anywhere between March and August depending
on the elevation [16,24,26].  It is an ephemeral species, generally
having only 10 weeks between first emergence and leaf fall [24].  The
fruit matures and dehisces approximately 2 months after pollination
[12].  The plant overwinters as a corm [6].

Related categories for Species: Erythronium grandiflorum | Glacier Lily