Lilium 2010

[Pascal B]

To be honest, I can't really understand what the difference is between L. bakerianum var. aureum and var. delavayi. The plant on my pictures on the previous page I have labeled as L. bakerianum var. delavayi because I thought it wasn't the clear yellow var. aureum is supposed to be but are var. delavayi and var. aureum not simply part of the same colour variation range? And var. rubrum the form in all shades of pink? Or are there more differences besides colour?

Sorry to be so long in posting this.  According to Drysdale, Woodcock & Stearn "Lilies of the World", Forrest found both L bakerianum var aureum and var delavayi in north Yunnan.  He described var aureum as 'of a rich golden-yellow throughout, minutely speckled purple on the interior from the base to the very tips of the segments'.  His field notes re var delavayi indicate the ground colour as ranging from dull olive-green and palish greenish yellow to olive-brown, with reddish purple maroon or crimson spots on the inside of the bell-shaped flower.
Does this help?
Liz

Thanx Liz, in that case both the plant from Tony Willis as well as mine would fall in var. delavayi. But it also shows that varieties based on color almost never work unless it is a single gene switch between one color and the other without anything in between. And even then, if they grow side by side and are pollinated by the same pollinators and most likely have the same patterns under UV light to guide the pollinators, why use a taxonomic status to describe a horticultural difference....?

Maybe proper fieldwork would clarify it for this Lilium species but I quess it really depends on the genus if colors are used to describe varieties on. Personally I rather see the use of cultivars if people insist on naming the different color forms. In Araceae for instance, despite many color variants of species in various genera, taxonomic distinction based on color is hardly (if at all) used. Asarum dito.

[Gerard Oud]

These are from the Italian Dolomites from last week!

Cheers Gerard

By the way these are wild Martagons!

[gote]

Maybe proper fieldwork would clarify it for this Lilium species but I quess it really depends on the genus if colors are used to describe varieties on. Personally I rather see the use of cultivars if people insist on naming the different color forms. In Araceae for instance, despite many color variants of species in various genera, taxonomic distinction based on color is hardly (if at all) used. Asarum dito.

Most of the orange lilies of the eastern part of Eurasia have yellow sports. In one case the yellow variant (lechtlinii) was named as type whereas the more common orange was named first a separate species (maximowiczii). In my eyes, a mistake. Cultvar names can only be used on man-made or man-selected taxa but I agree. There should be a better way of defining the various colour variations that occur.
Cheers
Göte

[Pascal B]

Maybe proper fieldwork would clarify it for this Lilium species but I quess it really depends on the genus if colors are used to describe varieties on. Personally I rather see the use of cultivars if people insist on naming the different color forms. In Araceae for instance, despite many color variants of species in various genera, taxonomic distinction based on color is hardly (if at all) used. Asarum dito.

Most of the orange lilies of the eastern part of Eurasia have yellow sports. In one case the yellow variant (lechtlinii) was named as type whereas the more common orange was named first a separate species (maximowiczii). In my eyes, a mistake. Cultvar names can only be used on man-made or man-selected taxa but I agree. There should be a better way of defining the various colour variations that occur.
Cheers
Göte

Göte, true. Cultivar names can only be applied to cultivated plants but it seems that the need for name distinction based on color primarily is asked for in cultivation and not so much in taxonomy itself. The highest percentage of varieties based on color therefore can be found in the genera that have horticultural value or were revised by people that have their background in horticulture. It could however be that there are more stable characters in L. bakerianum that would justify a varietal status hence my initial question and my remark on fieldwork. Is there any current research going on for Lilium in the wild?

[arisaema]

Lilium wardii, a lankongense-lookalike with nectaries like taliense.

[arisaema]

L. lankongense

[David Pilling]

Hi,

I'd appreciate any comments on this lily, it was grown from SRGC seedex 2006/2007 seed as speciosum, I think it is lankongense, flowered at the end of June and was scented. It's set seed so I'd like to get the name right.

[rob krejzl]

I think it is lankongense

David, I think you're right.

[gote]

Hi,

I'd appreciate any comments on this lily, it was grown from SRGC seedex 2006/2007 seed as speciosum, I think it is lankongense, flowered at the end of June and was scented. It's set seed so I'd like to get the name right.

Can you show the whole plant please
Goete

[David Pilling]

Rob, Gote, thanks for the replies. Below are some photos of the whole plant, in a 4 inch pot, so around 80 cms high. The entire packet of seeds is in this pot, but only one has flowered and that for the first time in 2009, making a couple of years from seed to flower.

[Giles]

L. nepalense

[Ragged Robin]

Spectacular photo Giles, I love the colouring and shape of your L. nepalense 

[gote]

Rob, Gote, thanks for the replies. Below are some photos of the whole plant, in a 4 inch pot, so around 80 cms high. The entire packet of seeds is in this pot, but only one has flowered and that for the first time in 2009, making a couple of years from seed to flower.

I also think that this is lankongense or duchartreii v. lankongense if we are lumpers.
The forms I know will grow sideways a couple of decimeters or more before emerging (making offsets on the way) so you probably have an enormous tangle in the pot.
I grow them in a bed and they appear everywhere but will be nearly double the size of yours.
I am impressed by your speedy success you must have the perfect soil and given a lot of care.
Göte   

[David Pilling]

Gote - thanks. I will examine the contents of the pot at the end of the year and see what the bulbs look like. Of the five seedlings only one has flowered, that managed to get big enough in an 8cm pot with the rest. They've lived in the greenhouse all the time, so usually good conditions, although I managed to get them too hot one year.

[Tony Willis]

Lilium auratum in flower at the moment. Of-sets from a bulb purchased a few years ago from Wisley