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Bulbs General / Re: Lilium: a curiosity
« Last post by Rick R. on November 05, 2024, 09:00:02 PM »Sorry for the late reply. Yes, a lot of weird things can happen with all the environmental changes due to climate change. As you have probably already discovered, nearly all Lilium species are not self-pollinating, including L. henryi. Some species can produce apomictic seed on occasion, but I’ve never heard of any reports of L. henryi doing it. I think it is more likely that either: (1) a butterfly traveled from another L. henryi or Aurelian lily (that would have L. henryi parentage) and brought its pollen to your plant, or (2) the climate change triggered apomixis.
The pic you show is exactly what I expect to see in an unopened, developing pod. Seeds that are normally flat like paper when dry are much much bigger and fatter inside the pod. Even at that stage, if you know what to look for, you would be able to find embryos in viable seed. I can’t tell from the pic, but even well pollinated flowers will produce lots of non-viable chaff.
The seed is very easily damaged at that stage, hopefully some are viable. But, I think I would have planted them immediately, too. I would have planted them a cm deep or less, but 2 cm should be ok. L. henryi seed does not need a cold treatment, but it won't hurt, unless there is a rot problem. Last year I planted two forms of L. henryi (dry seed) in early June, and they came up a month to a month and a half later. Good Luck!
The pic you show is exactly what I expect to see in an unopened, developing pod. Seeds that are normally flat like paper when dry are much much bigger and fatter inside the pod. Even at that stage, if you know what to look for, you would be able to find embryos in viable seed. I can’t tell from the pic, but even well pollinated flowers will produce lots of non-viable chaff.
The seed is very easily damaged at that stage, hopefully some are viable. But, I think I would have planted them immediately, too. I would have planted them a cm deep or less, but 2 cm should be ok. L. henryi seed does not need a cold treatment, but it won't hurt, unless there is a rot problem. Last year I planted two forms of L. henryi (dry seed) in early June, and they came up a month to a month and a half later. Good Luck!
