Look for these 1–2-foot tall lilies with 1–inch wide, yellow flowers in the morning because they close by afternoon. The flower looks like the miniature day lilies common in the nursery and flower trades. Some recent references place this species in Anthericaceae, the St. Bernard’s-Lily Family.

FLOWERS: May–October. Yellow with 6 petals (tepals), 3/8–1/2 inch long (9–15 mm) with a (faint) greenish stripe down the center, 6 stamens, 1 style and pistil; flowers bloom about 3/4 inch apart on single, slender stem (scape). Fruit is an oblong capsule.

LEAVES: Basal, 3–15 grass-like blades, narrow, linear, 3 1/2–16 inches long (8–40 cm).

HABITAT: Rocky, gravelly, sandy soils of mesas, mountain meadows, ridges; pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forests.

ELEVATION: 5,000–10,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX; Mexico.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The cluster of yellow flowers along the single stem distinguish this flower from related species. Copper Zephyr-lily, Zephyranthes longifolia, has only flower per stem.

NM COUNTIES: Western and southern NM in mid- to high-elevation, dry habitats: Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance.