Erythronium multiscapideum

(Kellogg) A. Nelson & Kennedy

Muhlenbergia 3: 137. 1908.

Common names: Sierra foothills fawn-lily
Endemic
Basionym: Fritillaria multiscapidea Kellogg Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 46. 1855
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 26. Treatment on page 161. Mentioned on page 154, 155, 160.

Bulbs ovoid, 20–50 mm, producing bulbels (usually 1–3 per parent bulb) at ends of long, slender stolons. Leaves 4–16 cm; blade mottled with irregular streaks of brown or white, ± lanceolate, margins entire to wavy. Scape 8–23 cm, branching just above leaves near ground level when flowers more than 1. Inflorescences 1–4-flowered. Flowers: flowering individuals generally uncommon in populations, most plants 1-leaved and vegetative; tepals white to cream with yellow base, broadly lanceolate to elliptic, 16–40 mm, inner with small auricles at base; stamens 10–15 mm; filaments white, linear, slender, less than 0.8 mm wide; anthers white to cream; style white, 10–13 mm; stigma unlobed or with recurved lobes 1–4 mm. Capsules obovoid, 2–5 cm. 2n = 24.


Phenology: Flowering spring (Mar–Apr).
Habitat: Open woods, brushy slopes, sometimes on serpentines
Elevation: 400–1000 m

Discussion

Erythronium multiscapideum is unusual among western species (and resembles some eastern species) in its tendency to reproduce vegetatively through the production of bulbels at the ends of stolons. It is similar in many respects to E. californicum and sometimes intergrades with it, resulting in occasional populations with the bulb characteristics of one species and the inflorescence branching pattern of the other.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"broad" is not a number."thicker" is not a number.

white +  and cream +
versatile +  and dorsifixed +
cordate +  and linear +
loculicidal +
umbilicate +, truncate +  and rounded +
Geraldine A. Allen +  and Kenneth R. Robertson +
(Kellogg) A. Nelson & Kennedy +
whorled +, opposite +  and alternate +
narrowed +
Fritillaria multiscapidea +
reticulate-veined +  and parallel-veined +
glabrous +  and glaucous +
lanceolate +  and ovate flat +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br />) +
sheathing +  and involucrate +
1;several +
tunicate +  and scaly +
additional +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
Sierra foothills fawn-lily +
400–1000 m +
connate-coroniform +  and dilated +
0mm +  and 0.8mm +
sessile +  and pedicellate +
erect +  and nodding +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
indehiscent +, septicidal +  and loculicidal +
obovoid +  and oblong +
membranaceous +  and leathery +
Open woods, brushy slopes, sometimes on serpentines +
persistent +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (16 cm160 mm <br />0.16 m <br />) +
white +  and brown +
lanceolate +
many;several +
zygomorphic +  and actinomorphic +
Flowering spring (Mar–Apr). +
Muhlenbergia +
reddish +  and green +
elongating +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (23 cm230 mm <br />0.23 m <br />) +
wind-distributed +
1 +  and many +
many +  and few +
more sparingly without than those extensive vegetative reproduction +
adnate +  and free +
staminodial +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
1 +  and several +
with recurved lobes +  and unlobed +
entire +  and wavy +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
Erythronium multiscapideum +
Erythronium +
species +
white;cream +
distinct +
spreading +  and reflexed +
broadly lanceolate +  and elliptic +
1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
sepaloid +  and petaloid +
narrower +
lanceolate;ovate +
3 +  and 2 +