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Liliaceae
Queen's Cup Lily
Clintonia uniflora
Delicate forest treasures found by the patient.
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Genus
- Clintonia
- Native to
- western North America
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- rhizomatous perennial
- Height
- 8–15 cm
- Sunlight
- full shade to part shade
- Soil
- moist, acidic, humus-rich forest soil
- Water
- medium to high
- Hardiness
- 4–7
- Lifespan
- long-lived perennial
Did you know
- The common name 'queen's cup' refers to the cup-like shape of the single upward-facing white flower.
- After blooming, the plant produces a single vivid cobalt-blue berry that is nearly luminescent on the forest floor.
- It grows exclusively in cool, moist coniferous forests from Alaska to northern California.
- The two to three basal leaves are smooth and glossy, often mistaken for lily-of-the-valley foliage.
- Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest used the plant as a mild traditional remedy for eye ailments.
Color meanings
White
serenity and discovery