help identify this flower

I have this small clump of day lily like plant. It resembles a crocus above ground but down below the roots are tuberous ..... just like day lily or agapanthus. I will upload a pic but for now it looks like a very hardy day lily or even slender tulip leaves coming up in a bunch. This flower came from a garden of a friend near Twin Falls, Idaho and the owner doesn't seem to know any more than I as yet. The flower comes up in yellow like a day lily but only the size of a crocus. The flower itself is pointed tips on 5 yellow petals .... very unlike a crocus. I've read of a plant like this from Turkey or Greece like the muscari but again ... no bulbs but longer stingy tubers.

Someone came up with the Erythronium suggestion and I recalled that was correct. This is a terrific flower. It originates in high mountainous meadow regions all over the world ..... in purple, pink, blue, yellow and white.

Photographer, please post a photo of the flower in bloom. Glad you got an ID.

Poochella, I found an image of an Erythronium. They are much like the Lily of the Valley and the Muscari in their root systems as well as their leaves being nearly identical to the Lily of the Valley. They are a tiny bulbous plant like tulips and are generally hardy to Zone 4. They spread well and make great ground cover in shaded areas like both previously mentioned flowers. For those of us in difficult USDA Plant Zones these plants are the large miracles of nature and greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah....here's the image. Kelly

Very cool Photographer. That would really brighten up the woods! Alas, I'm probalby the only person on all of planet Earth who routinely kills Lily of the Valley. Can you believe it? I tried again two years ago and none survived LOL. Where is the spreading scented spring menace so many gardeners pull like weeds? Not in my yard......

Poochella, Isn't that a bit odd for Lily of the Valley not to thrive over there where you are? You might need to have your soil PH tested. It must be something related to that .... probably too little PH. That has been my impression of the soil in that region .... often not terribly nutrient rich up on the hillsides. New home lots scraped out of hillsides are often bare down to the rubble and make for a significant amount of work to get the soil capable of sustaining flora. The Green River Valley has terrific soil content but the hillsides have been shedding water for eons. I don't have Lily of the Valley here yet ..... but it does fine in this region because I've seen it in hundreds and hundreds of yards (I used to be a newspaper delivery boy......40 yrs ago). If folks can grow it over here ...... you can grow it there with the right soil and sunlight and nutrients/fertilizers.