Erythronium mesochoreum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erythronium mesochoreum

Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Tribe: Lilieae
Genus: Erythronium
Species:
E. mesochoreum
Binomial name
Erythronium mesochoreum

Erythronium mesochoreum, the prairie fawn lily or midland fawnlily, is a plant species in the lily family, native to the US states of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.[3][4][5]

Erythronium mesochoreum forms flattened to egg-shaped corms up to 25 mm long.[4] The corms grow offsets in a manner similar to tulips, creating new plants as well as setting seed.[6] Leaves are elliptic to lanceolate, up to 14 cm long. Scape is up to 15 cm tall, bearing only one flower. Tepals are spreading at flowering time, white with blue or purple tinge on the underside and a yellow spot on the upper side. Anthers are yellow, and style is white.[4][7][8]

Cultivation[edit]

Prairie fawn lily is grown by wildflower gardeners particularly in areas in or near its habitat in the plains. It shows some adaptation to being grown in drier areas such as South Dakota.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Knerr, Ellsworth Brownell 1891. Midland College Monthly 2: 5
  2. ^ Tropicos, Erythronium mesochoreum Knerr
  3. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  4. ^ a b c Flora of North America v 26 p 163
  5. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  6. ^ a b Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0-8166-1127-0.
  7. ^ Knerr, Ellsworth Brownell. 1891. Midland College Monthly 2: 5.
  8. ^ Knerr, Ellsworth Brownell. 1891. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 13: 20.