Lilium is a large genus in the Liliaceae family. More than 100 species are found in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. There are thousands of cultivars as well. The majority of lilies are easy to grow, basic location being heads in the sun and feet in the shade. Good drainage is essential. With the exception of L. candidum, they should be planted twice as deep as the height of the bulb. L. candidum should be barely covered with soil and is best planted in late summer. The colors of pastel shades are best with a little shade so they do not lose their color in the sun.
Species Lilies was the topic of the week for the PBS List in June 2003. Some of the information below was furnished by John Bryan. His complete 
Introduction can be found here.
Lilium Hybrids -- North American Lilium A-M -- North American Lilium N-Z
Lilium amabile is from Korea and can reach 48" in height on slender stems which will carry 6-8 pendant red flowers well spaced in a raceme. They have a fragrance which some gardeners dislike, and the species increases quickly from stem bulblets and seed is produced in quantity. The var. luteum is yellow or orange and will put on a good show in early summer. Another advantage of this species is that once well established it seems to withstand drought. Grown from seed, photo by Ron Moodycliffe.
Lilium amabile var. luteum has yellow flowers. Photos of plants in his Placerville, CA garden taken in June 2006 by John Longanecker.
Lilium auratum originally from Japan. Photo by Ron Parsons of plants in cultivation, UC Berkeley arboretum.
Lilium bolanderi see North American Lilium
Lilium brownii var. viridulum native to China, grown in New Jersey, photos by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium bulbiferum has bright orange flowers and blooms in summer. Photo taken by Hans Joschko in the French Alps where these plants were growing with Narcissus poeticus along the road from Grenoble to Col de Lautaret.
Lilium callosum Grown from seed in a pot at Placerville, Ca. El. 2240, zone 7 banana belt.This is the yellow Lilium callosum var. 'flaviflorum' Makino -indigenous to Okinawa, Japan.-D. Fox 1985. Photo by John Longanecker.
Lilium canadense see North American Lilium
Lilium catesbaei see North American Lilium
Lilium cernuum from Korea and Manchuria, pale purple marked with carmine. Grown from seed, photo by Ron Moodycliffe.
Lilium citrinella "Yellow turks cap" lily, a very hardy species, easy to grow. This asiatic lily is very fragrant. Photo of plants in cultivation (Mary Gerritsen's garden) by Ron Parsons.
Lilium columbianum see North American Lilium
Lilium concolor from China, flowers are scarlet and have an unpleasant scent. First photo by Ron Moodycliffe. Second photo is of a plant grown in a container in Placerville, CA by John Longanecker.
Lilium dauricum from Asia, grown in New Jersey, photos by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium davidii is a lily form China. It flowers in summer and has orange flowers that are spotted. This bulb is eaten in China. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner of first blooms from seed June 2005. Photo on right, by Ron Parsons of plants in Mary Gerritsen's garden.
Lilium duchartrei This is a species that is found in the north-west of Yunnan and western Sichuan, China, growing at altitudes of 3,000 metres or more. Common name the "Marble Martagon". It stands up to one metre tall, with up to 12 fragrant turk's caps. Photograph by David Victor near Zhongdian, in Yunnan, July 2005.
Lilium formosanum, nominate form. Plants in cultivation at the Strybing Arboretum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA. Photo by Ron Parsons.
Lilium formosanum var. pricei - This is a dwarf form of the much taller Formosa Lily. The taller 'type' species is sometimes considered weedy because it seeds about too readily. This short variety grows 12"-18" (30-45 cm) tall, is reliably hardy even in northern New England, but seems to be short-lived, lasting 2-3 years then dying out, but not to worry, typically a few seedlings show up. Here are two views showing a rougue seedling that got into my bed of Allium flavum ssp. tauricum color forms. The flowers are richly colored on the back, pristine white within, and powerfully sweet scented. Photos by Mark McDonough.
Lilium grayi see North American Lilium
Lilium henryi From China and flowers well in New Jersey. It has multiplied in a sunny position. Photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium humboldtii see North American Lilium
Lilium kelloggii see North American Lilium
Lilium kelleyanum see North American Lilium
Lilium lancifolium a species of lily native to eastern Guam, in China, Korea and Japan. Photo by Ron Parsons, of plants at the Strybing Arboretum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Ca.
Lilium leichtlinii from Japan. The yellow form of Lilium leichtlinii with reddish-purple spots grows only in central Honshu, Japan's main island, among tall grasses in rich, moist meadows. The stem is purplish; the buds (and the outside base of the tepals) are woolly. Height 60-120 cm (2-4'). Here it is grown in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, photos by Gerry Danen.
To see more pictures of this Lilium species consult The Lily Gallery
Lilium leucanthum from Sichuan China. These plants were growing in the UC Berkeley Arboretum, photos by Ron Parsons.
Lilium leucanthum var. centifolium from China. This variety is from W. Gansu and can grow to 10 feet tall. Here it is grown in New Jersey, photos by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium longiflorum is the ever popular "Easter lily" which has been highly hybridized. This one was set behind the apple tree several years ago and forgotten. There are three stalks and nine flowers all open at the same time. Grown in Long Beach, CA by Doug Westfall.
Lilium mackliniae was found by Frank Kingdon-Ward high in the mountains of northern Burma (now Myanmar), and named for his wife. It was first thought to be a Nomocharis. This is the only plant from ten seeds sown in 1998, from the Royal Horticultural Society Lily Group. It is growing under an apple tree behind my deer fence, and flowered for the first time in mid-May, 2004 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Photo by Diane Whitehead.
Lilium maritimum see North American Lilium
Lilium martagon with its many varieties is another fine lily. It has a Turk's Cap form, rather thick petals, and the scales of the bulb are yellow. It is very free flowering with up to 50 flowers on a stem with whorled leaves that can reach 60 inches in height. It remains in flower for a long time and can be grown in sun or part shade where it will be shorter. The species is pale to deep (rather dull) pink but the varieties can be found with yellow, purplish-pink, red or carmine flowers.
Lilium martagon var. hirsutum Grown from seed, photo by Ron Moodycliffe.
Lilium michiganense see North American Lilium
Lilium monadelphum from the Caucasus on forest margins and slopes. Grown in New Jersey, photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium nepalense A species first found in Nepal, but now known to stretch across the Himalaya into western China. It typically grows in wet forest borders, between 1200m and 3000m. Three botanical varieties are recognised, according to Haw (in "Lilies of China", Timber Press, 1987), all of which occur in Yunnan. The broad leaves and the location make me believe that this fits with var. nepalense. The plant shown was photographed in Yunnan, west of Liuku, near to the Myanmar (Burma) border, at 2,350m. Photo and comments by David Victor. Photo on the right of a plant in cultivation, by Ron Parsons.
Lilium occidentale see North American Lilium
Lilium pardalinum see North American Lilium
Lilium parryi see North American Lilium
Lilium parvum see North American Lilium
Lilium philadelphicum see North American Lilium
Lilium pitkinense see North American Lilium
Lilium pumilum is an Asian lily (North Korea, Manchuria, and Mongolia) with red pendent flowers. It seems to be easily grown in a well watered garden. These first two photos were taken May 2004 by Bob Rutemoeller at Kew Gardens, United Kingdom, the second is not as clear but shows the form. The third photo, by John Longanecker, is of a lightly sweet scented container grown L. pumilum in Placerville, CA.
Lilium regale native to Sichuan, China. Photo of plant in cultivation at the UC Berkeley Arboretum by Ron Parsons.
Lilium rosthornii is native to Sichuan, Hubei and Guizhou. It grows in mountain ravines, by streams and woodland, at 350 to 900 meters above sea level. It differs from L. henryii in having an oblong seed capsule. Photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium rubellum is native to the Island of Honshu in Japan. It grows at 9,000 feet, attains height of 18 inches but may reach 30 inches in cultivation. Bulb received from the Species Lily Preservation Group. Photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium rubescens see North American Lilium
Lilium sargentiae grows to 1.5 metres tall, with funnel-shaped, fragrant flowers. This location is further south-west than those normally cited, which are in Sichuan. The first photo, by David Victor, was taken near the Liang Jang (Mekong) river, Yunnan, China. The other photos, by Arnold Trachtenberg, are of a bulb from a Chinese grower, Chen Yi.
Lilium shastense see North American Lilium
Lilium speciosum , an old favorite, seen here in the garden of and photographed by Jim McKenney. This lily has a distinct fragrance, very strong and sweet.
Lilium speciosum var. gloriosoides , syn. Lilium gloriosoides . Although this plant is usually listed as a variety of Lilium speciosum it is visually different with a better flower form and red dots in the central ring. It is from China and until recently was not in cultivation in the western world. It is tall growing; usually an established plant reaches 7', with strong stems. Flowering late, seed doesn't usually ripen in areas with severe winter weather--unless grown in a greenhouse/polytunnel. It may well be a valid species, but does not seem to be named as yet. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Lilium speciosum var. rubrum, photo by Ron Parsons, of a plant in cultivation.
Lilium sulphureum is late blooming trumpet lily having a soft yellow glow from within. Note the long flower. It came into bloom the first week of August and had abundant stem bulbils. Here in the middle Atlantic states of the US, other trumpet lilies typically bloom from the last week of June through the first two weeks of July. First photo by Jim McKenney of a plant grown by Debby Sheuchenko in central Virginia from material received from Chen Yi. Other photos, taken September 2004 by Lee Poulsen, have greener flowers than Jim's plant.
Lilium superbum see North American Lilium
Lilium taliense A beautiful and fragrant turk's cap lily that grows to 1.5 metres tall. The species is found in north-west Yunnan, China. Photographed by David Victor near Zhongdian, Yunnan, in July 2005.
Lilium vollmeri see North American Lilium
Lilium washingtonianum see North American Lilium
Lilium xanthellum is a rarely cultivated species, though it is easy to grow. It grows wild in China. The plant shown is about 6 feet high though it is a rather young plant. Photo by Denis Barthel.
Major reference works devoted to lilies include
And Edward McRae, 1998 listed in References
For more information about Lilium see Dr. Markus Hohenegger's Lilium site.
For other pictures and information of Lilium grown in the Danen garden, Gerry Danen's gallery
Lilium Hybrids -- North American Lilium A-M -- North American Lilium N-Z
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