Lilium from Chen Yi

[winwen]

Chen Yi offers a lily http://home.no.net/aroids/i/l-21.jpg under the name L21 - L. species (09) together with the description: 20-40cm tall, flowers 3-3,5cm in diameter.
I have ordered this lily several times but never brought it to flowering. I also think that the lily I received looks somewhat different (foliage) than the lily shown on the photo (link above!)

Has anyone ordered this lily and flowered it? What kind of lily is this?

Regards
winwen

[arisaema]

I've always assumed it was L. duchartrei (below)? Someone at the Lilium Yahoo! Group may have ordered it, you could try asking there as well.

[David Nicholson]

How does one order from Chen Yi please??

[johnw]

David - I suppose you already know that you never know quite what you getting from Chen Yi. The mis-labelling is legendary but there are so many good plants it's hard to resist.

A friend brought in Lilium souliei 2 years ago. I got one of them and the bulb was pathetic and didn't ,look like the shape of souliei. I dug it up a half dozen times and removed rotten scales until it was 1/4 the original size. Then in July it suddenly it sent up a very tall spike - obviously not souliei. I think 2 of the bulbs others got might be souliei.

Philip MacDougall was here last week and said he has heard nothing from her since last autumn and she may have closed down or been closed down.

By the way he brought me a lovely rooted cutting of a variegated (cream and green) Nothofagus antarctica called 'Chilan'.

johnw

[arisaema]

I realized I had ordered L21 in 2006, it didn't flower last season, but may do so later this summer. It's stoloniferous like L. duchartrei and lankongense.

[winwen]

Hello arisaema,

the lily I received looks exactly like the one on your photo.
Do you think, it could be the same as shown on Chen Yi's photo?
The foliage on her photo seems to be more lanceolate i.e. not so broad.
Nevertheless, I hope your lily will bloom this summer AND you keep us informed about it!

Kind regards
Erwin

[ellen&dan]

Hi there
 I am trying to find a upto date chen yi list of plants.
I was just wondering if anyone could help.
Thanks Ellen and Dan

[Lesley Cox]

That sounds like a nice form of the Nothofagus John. I'll look forward to seeing your pics in a couple of years' time.

I've not ever had plants from Chen Yi. We find it virtually impossible to bring in plants (as distinct from seeds) but in any case, her nursery would be outlawed by MAF due to the legendry mis-labelling mentioned above. We can only bring in ANYTHING with generic and specific names in place. L21 wouldn't cut it at all.

Having said that, there is often an enquiry on Trillium-L regarding her lack of catalogue or apparent "closed down" status. Yet always she seems to bounce back after a time. I believe everything she sells is collected from the wild which would explain the wrong names and the poor condition of many bulbs if they were lifted in growth and then dried off for export. I've no idea how widespread her collection area is but there must come a time when she has done considerable damage to that area's flora.

[arisaema]

It's a good thing you had me take a second look, I'm starting to lean more towards L. taliense (below). Both foliage and black nectaries point in that direction, but the height had me confused. There's also a slim possibility of the plant in Chen Yi's picture being one of a few species not yet introduced to the west (matangense or even jinfushanense, tianschanicum), but for those you'll have to ask someone more fluent in "botanicaleze"

I'll keep you posted on CY-L21/06.

Lesley: I believe she's mainly a reseller, many of the plants on her list are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Some of her peonies, lilies and Fritillaria come from cultivated stock (food/medicine), but the majority is probably (and unfortunately) wild collected.

Edit: Spelling

[Tony Willis]

I have had the same one from her and it is quite beautiful in flower.It was sent as lilium gloriosoides which it clearly was not.On a previous order I received the correct gloriosoides which flowered and then was devoured by a snail.  The plants were very small and had been scrubbed clean so getting them going colud prove a challenge

I have many of her dysoma's and gesneriads still growing well

Ordering was quite simple by email from her list and I paid when the plants were received. The important point to note if she ever returns is that the postage cost a lot more than the plants. I paid through the bank by an international payment.

[Lesley Cox]

Gosh, that L. taliense is gorgeous! One I'll be looking out for.

[arisaema]

winwen;

L21 just started flowering, I posted a picture of it here.