General: Perennial herb from a slender, 3- to 5-cm long bulb and an elongate, segmented corm; flowering stems 15-30 cm tall, smooth.
Leaves: Basal leaves 2, bright yellow-green, not mottled, oblong to egg-shaped, 10-20 cm long, smooth, narrowed gradually to broad, slightly winged stalks clasping the stem at the base, the margins entire but somewhat wavy; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence usually a solitary flower atop a leafless, unbranched, smooth stem; flowers golden-yellow to cream, nodding, of 6 similar, distinct tepals, the tepals lanceolate, 2-4 cm long, 4-8 mm wide, strongly curved back; stamens 6, anthers white, yellow, or red; pistil 1, 3-chambered.
Fruits: Capsules, cylindric-club-shaped, erect, 3-5 cm long; seeds several to many (typically 20 to 50), brown, papery.
Moist to mesic meadows, edges of snow-melt, along streams and occasionally in open forests in the montane to alpine zones; common throughout BC S of 53degreeN; E to AB and S to MT, UT and N CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
