Trail information withheld to protect the Wood Lilies.

This lovely Lily is rare in Colorado and New Mexico and does not exist in Utah and Arizona.  It grew through most of the north central and north eastern United States and much of Canada but habitat destruction and collection has reduced its numbers dangerously.  It should thus be left alone if ever found.  

Lilium philadelphicum grows a foot or two tall and puts out a very large and graceful flower atop a slender stalk.  Grasses and other greenery make it difficult to find Lilium philadelphicum when it is not in flower, and thus searching for it almost inevitably leads to walking on it and destroying it.  

Linnaeus named this genus in 1753 and species in 1762 with the Latinized version of the classical Greek name for this genus, "lirion" and with "philadelphicum" honoring Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from which area Linnaeus must have obtained his first specimen.  Both Meriwether Lewis and then Thomas Nuttall collected the first Western United States specimens.