Easter & Lenten Resources 2008

Wild Easter Lily

Given the name "Easter" Lily by settlers during the Colonial era, this North Carolina wildflower blooms from March until May.

Also called the Rain Lily and the Atamasco Lily, it is found in North Carolina's swampy forests and bogs from the coast to the mountains. This wild Easter Lily has also reportedly been observed from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas.

Actually a member of the Amaryllis Family, Zephyranthes atamasco grows in wet soil from a poisonous underground bulb.

This specimen was photographed by the late Claude W. Rankin of Fayetteville, N.C.

The Easter Lily images are copyright SouthernConnections and Claude W. Rankin. They are used by permission to enhance the Biblical Recorder's Lent and Easter Resources. Other reproduction for any purpose without the explicit written permission of SouthernConnections is forbidden