Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database


Lilium washingtonianum ssp. purpurascens (Washington Lily, Cascade Lily, Mount Hood Lily)

Kingdom

 Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom

 Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision

 Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division

 Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class

 Liliopsida – Monocotyledons

Subclass

 Liliidae

Order

 Liliales

Family

 Liliaceae – Lily family

Genus

 Lilium L. – lily

Species

 Lilium washingtonianum Kellogg – Washington lily

Subspecies :  Lilium washingtonianum Kellogg ssp. purpurascens (Stearn) M.W. Skinner – Cascade lily

Photo credit: Barry Francis

This plant has three names: the official scientific name, Lilium washingtonianum subsp. purpurascens (Stearn) M. W. Skinner, Novon. 12: 258. 2002.
Cascade lily; a synonym, Lilium washingtonianum var. purpurascens Stearn, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 124: 13. 1948; L. purpureum Purdy;  second synonym, L. washingtonianum var. purpureum (Purdy) Purdy 1919, not W. Bull ex Baker 1874
The bulbs vary quite a bit in form. Leaves follow the species form of whorls around the stem. Flowers appear from mid June to the middle of August, beginning mostly or entirely white, aging as so many white flowers do to dark pink or lavendar. Some have a short yellow stripe. The anthers are cream, often with tiny magenta dots. The pollen is pale yellow, sometimes a bit darker.

Look for this lily in forest openings, roadsides, chaparral or burned clearcuts in Oregon and down into California.

This subspecies is distinguished from subspecies washingtonianum by more compact bulbs with longer scales.

Photo credit: Henry John Elwes

For a short comparison of northwest native lilies, click here.
Contact:  star@chillirose.com ~ Copyright 2012 © Wallace W. Hansen ~ All rights reserved