Evening « Dancing Aspens Farm Blog

This week’s prompt at Nurture Photography Summer 2013 are Golden/Evening.

Glacier Lilies where blooming at the top of Logan Pass this time through! My favorite golden hued flower.

Species Description and Taxonomy

This wild relative of the garden tulip, also known as the yellow avalanche lily or dogtooth violet, occupies mountainous elevations of western North America. The pendent flowers have six large, showy yellow “petals” (more technically, tepals) that are abruptly bent backward toward the base. Mature plants typically make 2 leaves and 0-3 flowers. The fruits are cylindrical, three-chambered capsules, containing up to 60 large seeds if well-pollinated. By late July, the leaves have withered, and the plant overwinters from August to June as an underground corm similar to a tulip bulb.

Distribution and Habitat

Glacier lilies thrive in supalpine meadows from northern California and southern Colorado to southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta. They bloom as the snow melts, following the snow line as it recedes up slopes in the spring (see photo at right).

Ecological Relationships

Glacier lilies provide food for a variety of animals, including pocket gophers, mule deer, elk, and bighorn sheep. Grizzly and black bears may affect plant distribution by foraging on the corms; aboriginal humans also used corms as food. Bumble bee queens are the principal pollinators.

MORE INFO HERE…