[3] It is a wildflower present in prairie habitats in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley regions of the United States and Canada, from South Dakota through Ontario to New York, south to Georgia and Oklahoma.

[6] The flowers are orange with dark brown spots and acutely recurved petals.

The leaf arrangement is typically whorled, but sometimes alternate just below the inflorescence and at the very base of stem.

[6] The Michigan lily is an endangered species in the state of New York,[7] where it occurs in Monroe, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.

[9][failed verification] Media related to Lilium michiganense at Wikimedia Commons