Lilium bulbiferum
Fire Lily
a member of the Lilium genus in the family Liliaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
Uses
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mealy[5], they make very fair eating and can be used as a potato substitute[7].
- Plant part
- Root
Environment
- Range
- Eastern Central Europe.
- Habitat
- Scrub, amongst bracken and on rocky slopes[11].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 7+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - delayed hypogeal germination[2]. Best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring[3]. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long[4]. 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[8]. 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[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[8].
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[8]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1][3] and in calcareous soils[11][8]. Prefers summer shade[8]. Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15cm deep[9][3][8]. 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[8]. This is one of the easiest lilies to grow[10], it is cultivated for its edible bulb in Japan[7]. 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[8]. The typical form of this species forms bulbils on its stems[8]. The sub-species L. bulbiferum croceum does not normally produce bulbils[6].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
? The Plantsman. Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. Royal Horticultural Society 1982-00-00
Woodcock. and Coutts. Lilies - Their Culture and Management. Country Life 1935-00-00
RHS Lily Group. Lilies and Related Plants.
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950-00-00
Fox. D. Growing Lilies. Croom Helm 1985-00-00
Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Bulbs Pan Books 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-330-30253-1