Flowers 1–6 on a hairy stem, often blooming very close to the ground. Flowers have 3 sepals and 3 petals, which all look alike and are bright yellow above, greenish yellow and hairy below. Blooms April–May; rarely reblooms through summer until October. Leaves grasslike, basal, typically 6 inches long. Rootstock a corm. This species is quite variable in both the size of the plants and the size of the flowers.
Height: to 6 inches.
Statewide; apparently absent from the southeastern lowlands.
Habitat and Conservation
Occurs on acid soils of moist or dry prairies, meadows, glades, exposed bluff tops, dry open woods, and old fields.
Status
Also called common goldstar, common star-grass, and other such names. Botanists have long been debating the relationships among the plants traditionally considered lilies. In light of new molecular evidence, it is likely this plant will be placed in a family called the Hypoxidaceae, named for its genus. In the past, some botanists have put it in the Amaryllidaceae, the amaryllis family. A more conservative approach keeps it in the lily family, the Liliaceae.
Human Connections
This little flower grows throughout the tallgrass prairie region, from Illinois to eastern parts of Manitoba and the Dakotas, and south to eastern Oklahoma. Imagine the thoughts of pioneers when they gazed upon these bright lilies during stops along their westward journey!
Ecosystem Connections
Bobwhite, and probably other birds as well as mammals, eat the seeds.
