Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


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Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains

67. Liliaceae, the Lily Family

1. Hypoxis L. -- Stargrass

1. Hypoxis hirsuta (L.) Cov. -- Yellow stargrass

Low, acaulescent perennial 6-25 cm tall, from a small shallow corm. Leaves grasslike but lacking sheaths, 1-5 mm wide, equaling or surpassing the inflorescence, mostly 5- to 9-nerved. Scapes 1-few, slender, lax, sericeous in the upper part. Flowers 1-6 (usually 2) per scape, yellow, 1-2.5 cm across, pubescent on the outside of the tepals and ovary; tepals spreading in flower, 5-12 mm long, closing up and turning green after flowering, persistent; ovary inferior. Capsule ellipsoid, 3-6 mm long; seeds round, black, muricate, 1-1.5 mm in diameter. Late May--Jul. Wet meadows and low prairie; frequent in the e and c parts; (ME to Man., s to GA and TX).

Hypoxis hirsuta.

Map key

Return to Family -- Liliaceae - The Lily Family
Next Section -- Lilium philadelphicum L. -- Wild lily

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