''Leucocrinum montanum'', commonly known as the sand lily, common starlily or mountain lily, is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Leucocrinum'', placed in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Asparagaceae, and subfamily

Agavoideae Agavoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Agavaceae. The group includes many well-known desert and dry-zone types, such as the agaves ...

. It is native to the western United States, primarily in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

and the Great Basin.''Leucocrinum montanum''.
NatureServe. 2012.''Leucocrinum montanum''.
Flora of North America.Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map
/ref>Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> This species is a

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing from a deep system of fleshy roots. It is stemless, growing no more than about tall. It produces tufts of long, narrow leaves sheathed together at the bases. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is an

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

-shaped cluster of flowers amidst the foliage. The fragrant flower has six white

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s atop a narrow tube 2–3 cm long. The species is dimorphic in its pollen production, with two distinct pollen forms occurring in separate populations. Leucocrinum montanum at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.jpg, At

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located adjacent to Denver and Commerce City, Colorado, in the United States. It is approximately northeast of downtown Denver. The refuge is on the grounds of t ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

References

External links

The Jepson eFlora 2013USDA PLANTSCalPhotos
Agavoideae Monotypic Asparagaceae genera Flora of North America Flora of the United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of Nebraska Flora of North Dakota Flora of South Dakota Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of Colorado Flora of Idaho Flora of Montana Flora of Oregon Flora of Wyoming Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Arizona Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of Utah Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of New Mexico {{Asparagaceae-stub

See also

References

External links