Lilium is a large genus in the Liliaceae family. Information and pictures of species on the PBS wiki are found on section pages. This wiki page is for the Asiatic Section. Other sections and hybrids are linked below.
American Section A-M - American Section N-Z - Candidum Section - Dauricum Section - Martagon Section - Oriental Section - Trumpet Section - Lilium Hybrids
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 callosum was 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 cernuum is from Korea and Manchuria, pale purple marked with carmine. Grown from seed, photo by Ron Moodycliffe.
Lilium concolor is 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 davidii is a lily from China. It flowers in summer and has orange flowers that are spotted. This bulb is eaten in China. The first three photos by Mary Sue Ittner of first blooms from seed June 2005. Photos four and five by Ron Parsons of plants in Mary Gerritsen's garden.
Lilium henryi is from China and flowers well in New Jersey. It has multiplied in a sunny position. Photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium lancifolium is a species of lily native to eastern Guam, in China, Korea and Japan commonly called the "Tiger Lily", synonymous with Lilium tigrinum. Its origins are controversial, long believed to be a sterile triploid clone not found in the wild and preserved in cultivation as a food crop. The discovery of diploid and the yellow variety flaviflorum upset this idea. There is a double variety flore-pleno. Height is around 5 feet and flowering time in NW England mid August. Plants are robust and easy to grow. They are not scented.
Plants are notable for having hairy stems and producing large numbers of bulbils in the leaf axils. A bulbil collected in year N can produce flowers in year N+2. Bulbils often have roots whilst attached to the stem. They desire to spend Winter producing lots more roots so should be planted as soon as possible. The Tiger Lily has a reputation as the "Typhoid Mary" of the lily world, being very resistant to disease and as a result a risk to other lilies.
For a spirited pbs list discussion
and for an academic perspective see:
Geographic Distribution and Habitat Differentiation in Diploid and Triploid Lilium lancifolium of South Korea
The first photo by Ron Parsons of plants at the Strybing Arboretum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Ca. and the second and third photos by David Pilling, showing hairy stems with bulbils and flowers. Photos four and five are of variety flaviflorum by Göte Svanholm.
Lilium lankongense is a species found in north west Yunnan and south east Xizang in China growing at altitudes between 1800 and 3200 metres. Occasionally refered to as the "pink Lilium duchartrei". Flowers are scented with more than one per stem. Photograph by David Victor near Zhongdian, in Yunnan, July 2005.
Lilium leichtlinii is 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'). The flowers are smaller than L. lancifolium.
The variety maximowiczii synonymous with variety tigrinum has orange flowers.
Photos #1-2 were taken by Gerry Danen showing the plants grown in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photos #3-4 were contributed by the UC Botanical Garden.
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 nepalense is 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 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 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. henryi in having an oblong seed capsule. Photo by Arnold Trachtenberg.
Lilium taliense is 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 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.
American Section A-M - American Section N-Z - Candidum Section - Dauricum Section - Martagon Section - Oriental Section - Trumpet Section - Lilium Hybrids - Lilium Index