Lily Family – Liliaceae
Actual flower size: 2 inches across
Yellow Glacier Lily is also called Glacier Lily, Avalanche Lily, and Dogtooth Violet.
Plant Description: Yellow Glacier Lily is a 6 to 14 inches tall pernnail with a smooth, green stem and 1 (occasionally 2 or 3) nodding, yellow flowers. There are 2 (or sometimes 3) glossy, green, mostly basal leaves, 4 to 8 inch long, clasping, and tongue-shaped.
Flower Description: The flowers are 2 inches across, with separated, strongly-reflexed yellow tepals which are a paler yellow at the base. There are 6 long, yellow (cream or purple) stamen and a branched stigma.
Ecology: Yellow Glacier Lilies emerge soon after snow melt and often form vast meadows of yellow. They grow in alpine or subalpine meadows, but also at middle elevations in the shrub steppe and the eastern slopes of cascades and at low elevations in Columbia River Gorge.
Note: Yellow Glacier Lily is sweet-scented.
Yellow Glacier Lily Photo Gallery
Actual flower size: 2 inches across