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A graceful straight stem, curving elegantly at the top like a tiny streetlamp with beams of golden light spilling down — the fawn lily is such a picturesque beauty, that once seen, it will never be forgotten. On the BC coast, there are actually two species of fawn lily that match each other in elegance.

The pink fawn lily is a lover of damp forests, especially the rich soils of river floodplains — flourishing in the coastal rainforests of the west coast. First Nations people have traditionally enjoyed eating the bulbs of the pink fawn lily, digging them as the leaves first open in the spring (followed by water to prevent an upset stomach).

By contrast, the white fawn lily is found in drier, well-drained spots on the east side of Vancouver Island, brightening the Garry oak meadows and sunny glades in forests of Douglas-fir.

Fawn lilies are named for their dappled leaves, reminiscent of the spots on a baby deer (the stiff leaves themselves have been likened to the pricked ears of a listening fawn). It is appropriate that two of the most beautiful flowers on the coast are emblematic of two of the most magnificent and endangered ecosystems, the Garry oak meadows and the valley-bottom rainforest floodplains.

Be sure to try and catch a glimpse of their fleeting beauty in early spring. A great place to see white fawn lilies is the St. Mary’s Church & Cemetery in Metchosin, where thousands of these flowers blanket the ground in early April. Pink fawn lilies are commonly seen around the San Juan Spruce near Port Renfrew, among other spruce floodplain zones on the west coast.