Lilium rubellum
| Lilium rubellum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Early Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lilium rubellum
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].
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]. This bulb is very difficult to establish in Britain because it requires plenty of summer moisture with cold, dry conditions in the winter[5]. It has, however, survived for 50 years in the wild garden at Wisley, where it grows in a moist very acid sandy soil[6].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 12cm deep in a well-drained sandy loam with added leaf mold[2]. 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].
A very ornamental plant[7]. The flowers diffuse a rich sweet scent[5].
The plant should be protected against rabbits and slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour[4].
Range: E. Asia - Japan.
Habitat: Low mountains, occasionally on alpine slopes[8], among dwarf shrubs and grass, 750 - 1800 metres in C. Japan[2].
Edibility: Bulb - cooked[9][10]. Rich in starch, it can be used as a vegetable in similar ways to potatoes (Solanum tuberosum).
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: L. japonicum rubellum.
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.
- ↑ Reed, David. Lilies and Related Plants. 1989.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Bulbs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Ohwi, Jisaburo. Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, 1965.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.