Gray's lily was named for Asa Gray, the Harvard botanist who spent decades cataloging American flora in the nineteenth century, and the plant he lent his name to is now both endangered and federally imperiled. It grows only at high elevations in the Appalachians, in moist meadows, bogs, and seepages where cool temperatures persist through the growing season. The bell-shaped, reddish-orange flowers are spotted with purple on their interior surfaces, and they face outward to slightly nodding on plants 2 to 5 feet tall. It is the only lily native to North Carolina that hummingbirds pollinate exclusively.

Cultivating this plant successfully means replicating mountain conditions: full sun to partial shade, consistently moist acidic soil, and cool air that the Piedmont or coastal regions simply cannot provide. Tissue culture propagation is making it somewhat more available commercially, but it remains a plant for dedicated specialists in the appropriate climate. A fungal foliar disease in the wild is further stressing wild populations, making conservation of its native habitat as important as any horticultural effort.