Family: Liliaceae/ Lily
Ecology/ Botany:
This tall, tap-rooted perennial grows in dry, open grassland or shrubland at low to mid elevation. It prefers Bunchgrass or Ponderosa Pine forest zones.
Medicinal/ Other Uses:
Indigenous North Americans ate the large fleshy bulbs raw or cooked. Okanagan people used a poultice of the bulb for poison ivy blisters. It is very palatable to grazing animals and can be eliminated from an ecosystem in this way. They were widespread and are now rare. Harvesting the bulb kills the whole plant, so is discouraged.