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Tuolumne fawnlily

Erythronium tuolumnense

Also called Tuolumne Fawn Lily

Tuolumne fawnlily
Photo: Bouba at French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Tuolumne fawnlily is a small hardy spring-flowering bulb native to the Sierra Nevada foothills of Tuolumne County, California, grown for its yellow flowers. It needs a cool, dormant summer and well-drained soil, and it is not a true lily or violet.

Family
Liliaceae (Lily family)
Grows as
Bulb, Perennial
Light
Part shade
Water
Water through spring while leaves and flowers are active, then keep dry during summer dormancy.
Soil
Well-drained, humus-rich woodland soil or gritty loam.
Temperature
Hardy in cool temperate climates, tolerating winter cold well; avoid hot, humid summers.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
C. California (Tuolumne Co.)
Climate
temperate

About

Erythronium tuolumnense is a species of flowering plant in the family Liliaceae, known by the common name Tuolumne fawn lily or Tuolumne dog's tooth violet. However, it is neither a true lily nor a violet. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of Tuolumne County, California; from 600 m (1,969 ft) along Italian Bar Road up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) altitude at the headwaters of Deer Creek.

This hardy perennial wildflower grows from a bulb 5–10 cm (2–4 in) wide, sometimes with associated bulblets. The bulb resembles a dog's tooth in shape and colour, hence the name "dog's tooth" (which also applies to other erythronium species such as E. dens-canis). It produces two small leaves and a reddish stalk up to 35 cm (14 in) tall bearing one to five flowers. The flower has bright yellow recurved tepals, a white style and white stamens tipped with large yellow anthers.

Other Erythronium plants

Dogtooth violet · California fawnlily · Dog's-tooth-violet · Yellow avalanche-lily · Asian Fawnlily · Mahogany fawnlily · Fawn lily

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erythronium tuolumnense by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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