Lilium lancifolium
Lilium lancifolium is an Asian species of lily, native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East. It is widely planted as an ornamental because of its showy orange-and-black flowers, and sporadically occurs as a garden escapee in North America, particularly the eastern United States including New England, and has made incursions into some southern states such as Georgia.
It has the English name tiger lily, but that name has been applied to other species as well.
Description
Like other true lilies, the flowers are borne on upright stems that are tall and bear lanceolate leaves long and broad. L. lancifolium produces aerial bulblets, known as bulbils, in the leaf axils. These bulbils are uncommon in Lilium species and they produce new plants that are clones of the original plant.The flowers are odorless. Each lasts a few days and if pollinated produce capsules with many thin seeds.
Extrafloral nectaries on the species were first noted by Zimmerman 1932.
Reproduction
These lilies are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction, dependent on the cytotype. Some populations of the plant are diploid and some populations are triploid. The North American population is mainly triploid, while the Asian populations may be either. The diploid populations can undergo both forms of reproduction. The triploid populations, however, are sterile and limited to asexual reproduction only. They mainly reproduce by forming bubils in the leaf axis.Taxonomy
Varieties
The names of names considered as varieties at some time are:The Lilium tigrinum flore pleno, the double-flowered variety, had been exported out of Japan by William Bull since 1869.