Plants perennial, with globose tubers 10-200 mm diam.; periderm 0-0.5 mm. Stems 5-40 cm. Leaves: basal leaves petiolate 6-20 cm, blade linear, 3-14 × 0.5-1.3 cm; cauline leaves sessile, blade linear, 1-10 cm, tapered to slender base. Inflorescences 1-bracteate, rarely with 2 or more bracts; bracts reduced apically, scalelike. Flowers 5-12 mm diam.; sepals 5-7 mm; petals white to pinkish or rose (rarely yellow or orange) or white with pink-lavender candy-stripes, 7-14 mm; ovules 6. Seeds 2-3 mm diam., shiny and smooth; elaisome 1-2 mm. 2n = 12-190. Flowering Mar-Apr. Wetlands, seeps, moist woods, riparian hardwood forests, copses, bluffs, ravines, prairies; 0-1000 m; Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va., Wis.