''Erythronium hendersonii'', or Henderson's fawn lily, is a plant in the
lily family native to southwestern
Oregon, and northern
California. It can be locally very abundant within its range which is in the
Rogue River, and
Applegate River
The Applegate River is a -long tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains approximately . Rising in northern California, it soon crosses the border and flows northeast then northwest to meet the Rogue about west of Gra ...
drainage basins in
Josephine County
Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is probably named after a stream in the area called Josephine Creek, which in ...
and
Jackson County in
Oregon, and well as sites in
Siskiyou,
Del Norte, and
Mendocino Counties in
California.
Description
''Erythronium hendersonii'' has a pair of mottled leaves, and its scape can bear up to eleven blossoms, but more commonly 1–4. The flower color is distinctive among all western North American ''Erythronium'' species. The color of the recurved tepals varies from a deep velvety purple, to lavender. The base of the tepals is dark purple, and surrounded by a tinge of white or yellow. The stigma is unlobed to shortly three-lobed, and the anthers are purple to brown.
This species is named for
Louis F. Henderson, who has been called "The Grand Old Man of Northwest Botany".
Ecology
It blooms early in the southern part of its range starting in February, with some locations carpeted by ''E. hendersonii'' in the thousands in March, where it often blooms with ''
Dodecatheon hendersonii''. It blooms at higher elevations through May. It is most abundant in dry, open woodlands of
Ponderosa pine,
Garry oak, and
madrone.
Cultivation
In the UK, ''Erythronium henderonii'' has received the
Royal Horticultural Society's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.
References
External links
Npsoregon.org
hendersonii
Flora of Oregon
Flora of California
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
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