natural herbs
Pink Fawn Lily
Erythronium revolutum

• Medicinal herbs
• Natural herbs
• Latin names
• Common names

Herb: Pink Fawn Lily

Latin name: Erythronium revolutum

Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Edible parts of Pink Fawn Lily:

Bulb - raw or cooked. It can also be dried and stored for later use. The bulbs are usually harvested in the spring as the first leaves appear above ground, they can be stored for some months in a cool place. The raw bulb has a slightly bitter milky taste, the texture is cool and moist inside and so the North American Indians liked eating them on hot days. The cooked bulb has a more starchy texture. The Indians always drank water after eating the bulbs because they believed that otherwise they would get sick.

Description of the plant:

Habitat of the herb:

Redwood forest and mixed evergreen forest, edges of bogs and along wooded streams, from the coast to 1000 metres.

Propagation of Pink Fawn Lily:

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 the herb:

Redwood forest and mixed evergreen forest, edges of bogs and along wooded streams, from the coast to 1000 metres.

Medicinal use of Pink Fawn Lily:

None known

Known hazards of Erythronium revolutum:

Although no records of toxicity have been seen for this species, the following notes have been seen for another member of this genus and so some caution is advised. Skin contact with the bulbs has been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.