Thirty populations of Sandhills lily (Lilium pyrophilum) in North Carolina and Virginia were studied to understand the habitat requirements and develop search criteria to find new populations. In each population a study plot containing lily individuals was compared with a nearby plot lacking the lily. Lilium pyrophilum habitat occurred on floodplains and adjacent side slopes that supported four Coastal Plain plant community types and maintained rights-of-way and had an open canopy with an understory dominated by herbs and shrubs. Lily individuals occurred on a range of organic to mineral-organic soils but not on sandy soils and lily soils had higher sulfur levels. Relative to plots lacking lily individuals, Lilium pyrophilum plots had a higher wetness index. Since 97% of plots were in jurisdictional wetlands, a wetland indicator of FACW was recommended for L. pyrophilum. Search criteria for finding new populations were developed on the basis of the habitat features elucidated in this study.