FAWN-LILY. DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET. CHAMISE-LILY.
Erythronium giganteum, Lindl. Lily Family.
Corm.—Usually elongated. Leaves.—Oblong; six to ten inches long; dark green, usually mottled in mahogany and dark brown. Scape.—One- to many-flowered. Perianth.—Broadly funnel-form, with six deciduous segments; at length revolute to the stem. Segments.—Straw-color, with orange base, with often a transverse, brownish band across the base; broadly lanceolate; eighteen lines or so long. Stamens.—Six. Filaments filiform. Anthers basifixed. Ovary.—Three-celled. Style slender. Stigma three-lobed. Hab.—The interior of the Coast Ranges, from Sonoma County to the Willamette Valley.
[FAWN-LILY—Erythronium giganteum.]
![[FAWN-LILY—Erythronium giganteum.]](#3624944100741987669_f047.png.id-6053773001384696217.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
The dog's-tooth violets expand into larger, finer creations upon our shores than were ever dreamed of elsewhere. They seem to imbibe new vigor in the sweet life-giving air of our Coast Range forests. In Southern Oregon, they reach their maximum development, manifesting themselves in numerous beautiful species. With us the common title becomes still more inappropriate than for the Atlantic species—for nothing could be farther from a violet than these large pale flowers, which in reality look far more like lilies. Indeed, in Mendocino County they are commonly known as "chamise-lilies." Another name is "Adam and Eve," bestowed because the plant often bears a large and a small flower at the same time.
Personally, I am inclined to favor Mr. Burroughs' suggestion of "fawn-lily." It is both appropriate and pretty. The two erect leaves are like the ears of a fawn; their beautiful mottling is not without a hint of the fawn's spots; and the blossom is lily-like. The plant is shy, too, keeping to the seclusion of our deep cañons. In such situations we may find them in groups of a few, or occasionally in beds of hundreds. No more delightful surprise could be imagined than to come suddenly upon such a garden far from the habitations of man. The pale flowers, with orange centers, when fully open, roll their petals back to the stem, like those of the leopard-lily; but in cloudy weather they often maintain a campanulate outline. Plants have frequently been seen with from eight to sixteen flowers upon a stem, the flowers three or four inches across!
These are great favorites in gardens, and in cultivation are known as E. grandiflorum. We have several species of Erythronium, all of them beautiful.