Leaves appearing in late winter, fresh at anthesis, then dying off, arching outward, to 6 cm wide. Scape bracts lanceolate, 4.5-7 cm. 2n = 52, 54. Flowering summer--early fall. Floodplain forests, hammocks, meadows, wooded hillsides; 0--1100 m; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., N.C., S.C., Tenn.
From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam
The spiderlily grows in low woodland that is usually inundated each year and in soil which is comparatively free from organic matter and which becomes very hard during the summer months. The bulbs are usually 6-9 inches below the surface in a compact, blue clay. It is rather frequent in the southern part of Posey County where its habitat is frequent and local elsewhere. It is found in the Big Creek bottoms near Wadesville, Posey County, local in the bottoms along Pigeon Creek in the northern part of Warrick County and the southern part of Gibson County, and local in its habitat along Little Pigeon Creek in Spencer County. It doubtless has a range wider than the location given above, but, as I understand its habitat, it will be restricted to the peculiar low places along streams and low spots in woods of the southwestern counties. Where it is found it is comparatively abundant.
