Family - Liliaceae

Stems - Aerial stems to 1.5m tall, simple, green, glabrous, herbaceous, erect, terete.

Stem and bract.

Leaves - Alternate, basal, to 1m long, 3cm wide, glabrous, entire, linear. Leaves of the upper stem reduced to small bracts.

Inflorescence - Terminal, paired panicles.

Flowers - Perianth red-orange with yellowish base and light midrib, recurved, to +12cm long and broad, joined at base into short tube. Petals 3. Sepals 3, slightly smaller than petals. Stamens 6. Style 1.

Stamens close-up.

Flowering - May - August.

Habitat - Mostly cultivated. Also found along roadsides.

Origin - Native to Eurasia.

Other info. - This is the species from which hundreds to thousands of cultivars have been grown. Luckily the cultivated plants are sterile but they do spread by means of underground stolons and form large colonies.
This plant is extremely common on roadsides and in cultivation.
The flowers and roots are edible. Don't eat the mature leaves and stems, you'll be sorry.
"Fulva" means "orange-yellow" in Latin.

Photographs taken in the Honey Creek Conservation Area, MO., 6-14-03.