Glacier lily is a short (to 30 cm) herbaceous perennial. The leaves are basal amd paired, not mottled, oblong to 20 cm, and clasping the stem at the base. The flowers are usually single, yellow, and nodding with recurved tepals somewhat paler at the base. Glacier lily grows at middle to alpine elevations, often blooming in profusion at the edge of melting snowbanks.