Leucocrinum montanum, commonly known as the common starlily, sandlily, or mountain lily, is the only species in the monotypic genus Leucocrinum, which was placed in the asparagus family in 2009. It is a common and widespread early spring wildflower on the shortgrass prairie, the central and southern Rocky Mountains, and the Intermountain West. It is a low growing plant, no more than 10 centimeters (4 in) tall. The common starlily's flowers are also close to the ground with a floral tube that extends underground. The seed capsule develops beneath the surface of the soil with several different theories as to how the seeds are then distributed.
Description The common starlily is a small herbaceous plant reaching just 5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 in) in height. Plants consist of a stemless tuft of narrow, hairless, grass-like leaves that may reach 10–20 cm (4–8 in) in length and just 2–8 millimeters in width. The edges of the leaves are slightly white in color and they have a U-shaped cross section. The base of each leaf tuft is surrounded by a membranous sheath. Underground the plant has a short caudex, also called a crown, that is usually about 5 cm (2 in) under the soil surface. The roots resemble fleshy strings growing out from a central point and are light gray to tan in color. They are geophytes, a plant that avoids unfavorable conditions by dying back to their fleshy roots for most of the year, with its leaves disappearing by early summer. Starlily is one of the best known early spring Rocky Mountain wildflowers. Its flowers are stemless, like the leaves, but grow from an underground umbel-like flower stalk. There are often four to eight snowy white flowers per cluster each with six tepals, three nearly identical petals and sepals with a narrow pointed shape that spreads outward to resemble a star. The flowers are of a translucent or crystalline character rather than waxy and the thin tepals glisten in sunlight. Each measures 2 to 2.5 cm (0.8 to 1 in) long, but just 3–7 millimeters wide. The base of the tepals fuse into a long tube attaching to the underground parts. The floral tube can be 4 to 10 cm (1.6 to 3.9 in) long, but typically is 5 to 8 cm (2.0 to 3.1 in) in length. The six thread-like stamens attach near the top of the tube with an exposed portion shorter than the tepals. Each stamen is topped with bright yellow pollen. The species is dimorphic in its pollen production, with two distinct pollen forms occurring in separate populations. Flowers are accompanied by an intense, sweet fragrance. Blooming may be as early as March or as late as June. Warmth in the month of March causes blooming to begin earlier and precipitation in May and June increases the duration of blooming. The fruit is a three sided capsule, but it is also found underground so it is seldom seen. It will measure about 5–8 mm. Each capsule contains a few to several black, angled seeds of about 3 to 4 mm in size. According to William Weber and Ronald C. Wittmann the stalk attaching the capsule extends as it becomes mature so that the seeds will be found just under the soil surface and then are pushed up by the next year's emerging flowers. However, J.G. Lemmon reported in 1877 that when the leaves dry out and blow away their in-curved bases will carry away the seed capsules. In the 2006 book Dakota Flora the botanist Dave Ode suggested that ants or other insects dig up and distribute the seeds.
Taxonomy Leucocrinum montanum, and the genus of which it is the sole species, was scientifically described by Asa Gray in 1837 with him crediting Thomas Nuttall for the description. Into the 2010s it was usually placed in the family Liliaceae. However, in the APG III system, published in 2009, placed the genus into Asparagaceae in the Agavoideae subfamily. This classification continued in APG IV. Though, alternatively, it is sometimes placed in a family named Anthericaceae. It is most closely related to the plants in genus Echeandia, the craglilies.
Synonyms The genus has one synonym, Leucrinis which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1838. The species has two heterotypic synonyms, both botanical varieties.
Names
Leucocrinum (Lew-koh-krye-num) is a New Latin construction derived from Greek meaning "white lily". The species name, montanum, means "of the mountains". It is frequently known by the common names common starlily, starlily, star-lily, or star lily, however many other plants are casually called star lily including Lilium concolor, Milla biflora, and Toxicoscordion fremontii. It is also very commonly called sandlily, sand-lily, or sand lily, however other species are occasionally known by all three spelling variants including Oenothera cespitosa, Mentzelia decapetala, Colchicum ritchii, and Pancratium maritimum. It is also sometimes known by many other lily related names such as mountain-lily, white mountain lily, mountain star-lily, desert-lily, and sage lily. It was also occasionally called wild tuberose. In the 1890s in Colorado it was called white crocus, despite not being related to those flowers. Also in Colorado, Alice Eastwood recorded the name white prairie lily in 1893. It is called see-goo-ah-gump in the Northern Paiute language. In the Lakȟóta language it is called yapízapi hú iyéčheča with the meaning "it is like feathery false lily of the valley", which is called yapízapi hú.
Range and habitat
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
