White-flowered Erythronium americanum?
Jim McKenney (Fri, 08 Apr 2005 17:17:32 PDT)

All the recent posts about white-flowered Erythronium dens-canis have got me
thinking about the local white-flowered Erythronium.

Can anyone tell me if Erythronium americanum has white-flowered forms?

I know of two local populations of E. americanum among which grow plants
with white flowers. The white-flowered plants produce flowers which are
comparatively wimpy and have distinctly bluish leaves. In the location I've
seen most often, the white-flowered plants are almost certainly a clone:
they grow in a big patch (of foliage, not flowers!) about a yard or two
across.

It seems very unlikely to me that these are E. albidum, although everyone
I've ever asked uses that name for them.

Any thoughts?

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@starpower.net
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 where for some early bloomers
heavy rain last night made literally true the term "spring ephemerals".