Hello. I live in the south-west part of NC, but not quite in the appalachia area. I have some lovely wite flowers that bloom this time every spring, but until this year they were only sparse. The area is mostly woodlands. I believe these are natives, but I cannot find these in any reference. The plants are bulbous. But the bulbs remain small, even when mature, may 1cm in diameter or so. The leaves look like very lush young grass shoots, becoming thin & staplike with age. They do not get tough, and a lighter colored stripe(almost silvery) will be present down the center of the oldest leaves. The plant does not exceed 12-14 inches. The flowers are small, about 1cm accross. They are borne sinularly, on brackets that radiate from a central stalk. The brackets are more or less in a loose spiral configuration, and the entire flower stalk looks like a candleabra, The flowers have six petals, but when first opening, three appear larger. When fully opened, they appear all the same size. The flowers close at night and open in the morning. The blooms last for a week to two weeks, and have a very sweet smell, though not fragrent enough to be carred by air. Small seed pods appear to remain, but I have yet to see actual seeds produced. The pods seem empty and a little mushy. I would like to propagate these around my yard. I am sure that hey are some sort of lily or relative, but I cannot find information. Please help.
You guys are great! That's the right one. The USDA has a common name of "sleepydick" for this one. I don't think anyone here locally has ever mentioned a name other than calling it "grass flower" or "grass lily". Thanks again for a speedy reply!
