Lilium superbum
| Lilium superbum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 8' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Late Summer-Early Fall |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lilium superbum (common name: swamp 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].
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]. Requires a lime-free soil[5][6][7][2]. Does well in a woodland, succeeding in sun or shade[5][6][2].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 12 - 20cm deep on a few stones[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[8], it flowers in 4 years from seed[2].
Hybridizes with L. canadense but does not seem to cross with other species[2].
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: Eastern N. America - New Brunswick to Ontario, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri.
Habitat: Peaty meadows, swales, wet sands and swampy woods[9].
Edibility: Bulb - cooked[10][11][12]. A starchy and slightly sweet taste[13]. Fleshy. Used like potatoes[13] or as a thickener in soups[14][15]. The bulb is up to 5cm in diameter[16].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Royal Horticultural Society. The Plantsman Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. Royal Horticultural Society, 1982.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 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 Knight, F. P.. Plants for Shade. Royal Horticultural Society, 1980.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Grey, Charles. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate, 1938.
- ↑ Fox, Derek. Growing Lilies. Croom Helm, 1985.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.