Herb: Giant White Fawnlily


Latin name: Erythronium oregonum


Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)



Medicinal use of Giant White Fawnlily:

The crushed corm is used as a poultice for boils.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Bulb


Height:
45 cm
(1 foot)

Flowering:
April
to May

Habitat of the herb:

Moist woods, often on alluvial soils, to open gravelly prairies, always at rather low elevations.

Edible parts of Giant White Fawnlily:

Bulb - raw, cooked or dried for later use. Some caution should be employed, see the notes above on toxicity.

Propagation of the herb:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a shady position in a cold frame. Water lightly in summer, it should germinate in autumn or winter. Stored seed requires a period of cold stratification. Sow as early in spring as possible in a cold frame. Sow the seed thinly so that it will not be necessary to prick them out for their first year of growth. Give an occasional liquid feed to the seedlings to make sure that they do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants are dormant, pot up the small bulbs putting 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on in a shady position in the greenhouse for another 2 3 years and then plant them out into their permanent positions when they are dormant in late summer. Division of the bulbs in the summer as the leaves die down. Larger bulbs can be replanted immediately into their permanent positions, but it is best to pot up smaller bulbs and grow them on in a shady position in a greenhouse for a year before planting them out when dormant in late summer.

Cultivation of Giant White Fawnlily:

Moist woods, often on alluvial soils, to open gravelly prairies, always at rather low elevations.

Known hazards of Erythronium oregonum:

The bulbs have been suspected of poisoning poultry. The following notes have also been seen for another member of this genus - skin contact with the bulbs has been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.