Lilium bulbiferum
| Lilium bulbiferum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 7 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 4' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lilium bulbiferum (common name: fire lily)
Propagation: Seed - delayed hypogeal germination[1]. Best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring[2]. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long[3]. Grow on in cool shady conditions. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people leave them in the seed pot until they die down at the end of their second years growth. This necessitates sowing the seed thinly and using a reasonably fertile sowing medium. The plants will also require regular feeding when in growth. Divide the young bulbs when they are dormant, putting 2 - 3 in each pot, and grow them on for at least another year before planting them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant[K].
Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately[4].
Bulbils - gather in late summer when they start to fall off the stems and pot up immediately. Grow on in a greenhouse until large enough to go outside[3].
Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbs in early autumn. If they are kept in a warm dark place in a bag of moist peat, they will produce bulblets. These bulblets can be potted up and grown on in the greenhouse until they are large enough to plant out[4].
Cultivation: Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[4]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[5][2] and in calcareous soils[6][4]. Prefers summer shade[4].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15cm deep[7][2][4]. Early to mid autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn[4].
This is one of the easiest lilies to grow[8], it is cultivated for its edible bulb in Japan[9].
The plant should be protected against slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour[4].
The typical form of this species forms bulbils on its stems[4]. The sub-species L. bulbiferum croceum does not normally produce bulbils[10].
Range: Eastern Central Europe.
Habitat: Scrub, amongst bracken and on rocky slopes[6].
Edibility: Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mealy[11], they make very fair eating and can be used as a potato substitute[9].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: L. croceum.
Links
References
- ↑ Royal Horticultural Society. The Plantsman Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. Royal Horticultural Society, 1982.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Woodcock, Hubert. Lilies - Their Culture and Management. Country Life, 1935.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reed, David. Lilies and Related Plants. 1989.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Bulbs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Fox, Derek. Growing Lilies. Croom Helm, 1985.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.