Gray's Lily

(Lilium grayi)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: NRCS, Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Gray's Lily (Lilium grayi S. Wats.)

Identification: Flowers deep red-orange. Petals short and stubby, apices not curled backward (reflexed). Interior or flowers heavily spotted with dark brown. Leaves in whorls. Plant and flowers smaller than most lilies, from 2 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Found in the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Habitat: Gray's Lily is found in the Appalachian Mountains in meadows and swamps.

Flowering period: June toJuly.

Similar Species: Grays' Lily is smaller and the flowers have stubbier, less reflexed petals than Canada Lily. The flowers of Canada Lily are larger, the petals project more and curl backward somewhat. The flowers of Canada Lily are usually yellow to orange (rarely red), but those of Gray's Lily are deep red-orange.

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