Leaf blade shiny green, to 8 mm wide. Spathe (2-)2.2-3.2(-3.6) cm. Flowers erect to slightly inclined; perianth mostly white, sometimes tinged or veined pink, more so with age, funnelform, (5.5-)6.6-9(-10) cm; perianth tube green, (0.8-)1-2(-2.1) cm, increasing in diam., less than 1/4 perianth length, ca. 1/2 (1/3-2/3) filament length, ca. 1/2 (1/3-3/4) spathe length; tepals usually reflexed; stamens diverging, appearing equal; filaments filiform, (2.9-)3.2-4.4(-4.7) cm; anthers 3-6(-8) mm; style longer than perianth tube; stigma 3-fid, exserted more than 2 mm beyond anthers; pedicel (0-)0.4-1.6(-3.4) cm, usually shorter than spathe. 2n = 24.

Flowering mid winter--spring (Jan--May). Rich, mixed forests, moist clearings, meadows, moist to wet pastures, coastal plains, piedmonts; 0--700 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., Md., Miss., N.C., S.C., Va.

Perianth tubular at base, with 6 broad, curved-ascending or spreading segments; filaments elongate, inserted on the throat of the perianth; corona none; ovary inferior, with numerous ovules in each of the 3 locules; seeds flat; perennial herbs from a coated bulb, with several flat, linear, basal lvs and a hollow scape bearing a single large erect fl on a short peduncle subtended by scarious bracts. 35, warm Amer.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.