Gray's Lily
Lilium grayi
Found in bogs, seepages, grassy balds, moist forests, and wet meadows, at medium to high elevations. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
45
Good
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial, from a bulb
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- August to September
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Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 10 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 4
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 140 animals.
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
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Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lilium
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Acrolepiopsis incertellaCarrionflower Moth
- Euxoa messoriaReaper Dart, Darksided Cutworm, Dark-Sided Cutworm
- Hymenia perspectalisSpotted Beet Webworm
- Macronoctua onustaIris Border Moth, Iris Root Borer
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema insulidensRagwort Stem Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
Show all 12
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Xanthopastis regnatrixConvict Caterpillar, Spanish Quaker, Spanish Moth
2BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lilium
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–5b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Yellow, orange or purple
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- September
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow, orange or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–5b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “Up to about 4 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial, from a bulb” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Grays Lily; Roan Lily
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G1G2 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
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Sources
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications