double-flowered tiger lily; was: Re: [pbs] Bulb Odds and end

DaveKarn@aol.com DaveKarn@aol.com
Tue, 13 Jul 2004 09:12:02 PDT
In a message dated 13-Jul-04 7:43:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
totototo@pacificcoast.net writes:

> Is the yellow tiger lily just a hybrid cultivar that's been rebranded?
> 
> 
Rodger ~

Yes, unfortunately.  Caveat emptor is just as important in this respect as it 
is for anything, I guess.  In other words, know what you are buying and (more 
importantly) know your source.  The mass catalog houses seem to find no 
conflict of interest in renaming almost any plant with a catchy name to increase 
sales.  I think 'Citronella' (it is certainly a hybrid, but without any "tiger 
lily" in its makeup) is a selection from the old Oregon Bulb Farms 'Fiesta 
Strain' of lilies that came into the market in the 1950s.

<<> Does anyone know anything about a *yellow* form of the tiger lily? <>>>

That's an interesting question.  'Nutmeggar' has been mentioned recently as a 
"tiger lily" hybrid and I once grew something called 'Prawn Tiger' that I 
thought was also one of these hybrids.  Looking them up, the parentage is listed 
as (L. tigrinum var. flaviflorum x 'Gold Urn').  Now, all these years later, 
one can only speculate what Stone and Payne were using when they stated what 
they did for parentage.    I don't know that the whole species vs hybrid issue 
with respect to L. tigrinum/L. lancifolium is at all settled.  The "yellow 
tiger lily" may, after all, have just been another hybrid with traits that were 
determined to be useful in S&P's breeding program.  Incidentally, 'Prawn Tiger' 
was a vigorous, tall lily that (planted thickly enough) could actually be used 
as a hedge!  The flowers were open and floppy and the color something of a 
salmon-pink with lots of spots, although not overpoweringly so.  Like 
'Nutmeggar,' it probably also produced copious bulbils (I don't recall).

Dave Karnstedt
Silverton, Oregon, USA


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