Michigan Lily? Turk’s Cap? Lilium tigrinum?

Oh no!!! My pride and joy may not be a native Michigain Lily after all, given the description of the seeds. I am crushed!

   

Mine produces seeds first, a dozen or more dark beads clinging to the stem, followed by blossoms. The plump seeds fall to the ground, sometimes already sprouting before they drop.

Michigan Lily, has the same blooming period (early to mid-summer, lasting about 1 month), but afterwards, the flowers are replaced by seedpods.

{{ Sobs of anguish!! }}

UPDATE: Cedar Sanderson to the rescue! Lilium tigrinum!  Vanessa Landry‘s  grandma also called this Tiger lily. And so did 19th Century authors. From Keith Souter’s website http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/bha-charity/how-we-can-help/medicine-a-z/lilium-tigrinum/ I paraphrase:

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan includes an Indian princess named Tiger Lily. She’s a beautiful, haughty, domi­neering young woman with attitude. Lewis Carroll describes a similar personality in Chapter 2 of Through the Looking Glass.

“O Tiger-lily” said Alice, addressing her­self to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, “I wish you could talk!” 

“We can talk,” said the Tiger-lily, “when there’s anybody worth talking to.”

Lilium tigrinum’s personality may seem haughty, domineering, irritable, impa­tient, and intimidating, but there is passion, beauty and glamour too.

Souter also writes:

–Lilium tigrinum is a “second rank remedy”–  not as commonly prescribed –yet it has immense usefulness and can transform lives

— it is rich in steroid saponins, used for symptoms related to the pelvis and heart

— Lilium tigrinum is pre­dominantly suited to problems of the left side of the body (stomach, pancreas, heart and rectum….ewww, no more paraphrasing!)

–Visit the website for a list of weird personality traits associated with tiger lily

–Pulsations and palpitations

People who need Lilium tingrinum often feel congested and feel the pulsation of blood vessels in various parts of the body. They can get throbbing headaches, rapid pulse and palpitations. When irrit­able they can feel as if their heart is being overwhelmed, that it is beating too fast and that it is too full of blood. At times they may feel that their chest is being gripped, as if it is in a vice. It may even feel as if it could burst.

Dragging down sensation
–Useful for young women may experience dysmenorrhoea, painful periods, cramp­ing, and an intense dragging down or bearing down sensation.

— irritable bowel syndrome, IBS (more lurid details at the site)

—Lilium tigrinum may help menopausal women who are intensely irritable

 

Okay, back to the Michigan Lily:

These seedpods are about 1½” long, oblongoid in shape, 3-celled, and glabrous; they split open into 3 parts to release their seeds. Mature seeds are brown, flattened, ovate-deltate in shape, and strongly winged along their margins. The thin papery wings enable the seeds to be carried some distance by gusts of wind. The root system consists of a yellow bulb with fibrous roots below, from which clonal offsets with new bulbs may form.

The Michigan Lily can be distinguished from Lilium superbum (Turk’s Cap Lily) as follows:

1) Michigan Lily has a more northern distribution (Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota)

2) Michigan Lily anthers are ½” or less, while the anthers of Turk’s Cap are ½” or longer,

3) Michigan Lily has yellow bulbs; Turk’s Cap has white bulbs,

4) Michigan Lily’s tips of the tepals curve backward toward the base of the flower, while in Turk’s Cap they curve backward considerably beyond the base of the flower, and

5) Turk’s Cap may have a conspicuous 6-pointed green star at the base of the flower, although it is not always present.

Read more:http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/85744/#ixzz394e6HY2Z

Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense), native to Missouri, is often mistaken for Turk’s-cap Lily (Lilium superbum). Michigan Lily blossoms resemble Tiger Lily (L. lancifolium) but the leaves are distinctly different. For unknown reasons, populations can collapse within a few seasons, which may explain the randomness of this species in the wild.

Typically 2-5′ tall, Michigan Lily can grow to 6 or 7 feet under ideal conditions.Stems arise from a scaly bulb. In June and July, the stems are topped with 1-3 bright orange-red pendant Turk’s cap-type flowers, to 3″ wide, changing to yellow with orange-brown spots near the center. As the bulbs grow larger, each stalk may produce up to five flowers. Plants in cultivation can also have many more than 5 flowers terminating the stem. Leaves average less than 6 inches long, are elliptic to lance-shaped and occur in whorls along the stem.

Hardiness zones 4-8, (-32°C/-25°F, -10°C/15°F) in Winter. Grow on in full sun to dappled shade in any good garden soil with adequate drainage. Prefers an acidic, moist, well-drained soil such as a sand-peat moss-loam mix with a gravelly bottom. Water regularly; do not overwater. It can be found mostly in slightly dry, sunny areas.

Germination is hypogeal– seed sprouts as a bulb at warm temperatures, requiring a period of cold afterwards to send up its first true leaf. Lily bulbs never go fully dormant, so they must be treated carefully. Plant seeds about 1/4 inch deep and keep moist. A ziplock bag placed loosely over each pot will keep moisture in. Place in warm temperature, 70-75°F, for 9-12 weeks. Then place in cold temperatures, in the refrigerator, -4°C to 4°C, for 3 months and back to warm; it will send up its first true leaf in 1-2 weeks. Lily seeds are not difficult to germinate indoors and to grow under lights. The most important requirement for the planting mix is drainage while retaining moisture. Use a combination of sand, soil, vermiculite, perlite and whatever organic matter is at hand to produce a light, airy mix which retains moisture but allows good drainage. – See more at: Michigan Lily Seeds

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