It occurs in Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, southwestern China (Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan), as well as northern Myanmar.

It inhabits altitudes between 3500 m and 4500 m above sea level, but is also found above the tree line; Turrill cites findings at 5795 m.[3] According to reports from Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan, it appears to be widespread and flourishing in the monsoon season.

[4] In addition to open, grassy, and frequently rocky hillsides, it also lives in alpine thickets, pine woods, and forest edges.

It also occasionally lives in shady, protected areas close to junipers, rhododendrons, and dwarf birch trees.

According to Harold Comber, Lilium nanum is a typical instance of a dwarf lily species and, in the traditional categorization approach, it belongs to the genus's largest section, Sinomartagon.

The morphologically highly similar Lilium oxypetalum,[5] which is also related to the genus Nomocharis,[6] was found to be the direct sister taxon.

Christian August Friedrich Garcke completed this and published "Die botanischen Ergebnisse der Reise seiner König" in 1862.

The Latin word "nanus" (which means "dwarf") in the species epithet to the plant's unusually short height.

It is remarkable that the first description with "Bloom...white"[9] and "finely pubescent", are two characteristics that contradict the species' present knowledge.

Hooker (1892) and Rendle (1906) classified specimens as Fritillaria, while Ernest Henry Wilson listed the species under the genus Nomocharis in 1925 without providing any further context.