OVERVIEWA perennial plant up to 1 m tall with a white, ovoid bulb up to 5 cm in diameter, consisting of thick, fleshy scales resembling garlic cloves. The stem is slender and has ɱaпy whorls of narrow, lance-shaped leaves. The flowers are large, showy, bright orange, with deep red or purple spots in the center, the petals are curved backwards. There are few to ɱaпy flowers at the top of the stem. The seed capsules are elongated and taper near the base (Douglas et al., 1991). Photo by Moralea Milne.

OTHER NAMESColumbι̇a lily, panther lily

FAMILYLiliaceae

ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTSpecies from western North America occur in moist, open forests and grasslands, from sea level to subalpine elevations. In British Columbι̇a, found throughout the province south of the 54th parallel north. Occurs in early seral communities on water-repellent, often colluvial soils. (Klinka et al., 1995).

SOIL TEXTUREVery well drained sandy soils rich in organic matter (Pettinger and Costanzo, 2002).

NUTRIENTSoils with nitrogen medium (Klinka et al., 1995).

SALINITY OF SOIL REACTIONPrefers rich acidic clay.

HUMIDITY CONTROLWell-drained, moderately dry to fresh soils (Klinka et al., 1995).

SHADE TOLERANCEPrefers a partially shaded location with shrubs or perennials that keep the soil cool and moist but allow the lily stem to come into sunlight.

SUCCESSOR STATUSCharacteristic of young open-canopy seral forests (Klinka et al., 1995).

SITE RENOVATIONNot practical as a type of rehabilitation.

WILDLIFEGenerally not eaten by wildlife.

LANDSCAPINGMakes a beautiful sight in a perennial bed as a backdrop for lower growing plants (Pettinger and Costanzo, 1996).

FIRST NATIONThe local indigenous people usually ate the tubers of the tiger lily after boiling or steaming them for several hours (Douglas, Meidinger, Pojar, 1991).

BLOOMING ᴛι̇ɱEJune to July

RIPENING ᴛι̇ɱE OF THE FRUITlate autumn

ᴛι̇ɱE OF SEED COLLECTIONLate fall to early winter.

COLLECTION AND ABSTRACTIONThe seeds can be collected in late fall after the plant has died back. The tapered, elongated seeds are located around the base of the plant.

SEED STORAGENot recommended.

TREATMENT OF FRUIT SEED DURANCESow the seeds in the fall so that dorɱaпcy can be broken naturally. This may only happen after two years because the seeds require multiple warm-cold-warm cycles to trigger germination.

VEGETATIVE PROPAGATIONSuccessful propagation can be achieved by bulb division. Divide the bulbs in the fall after the plant goes dorɱaпt. Flower bulbs should only be taken from the wild for salvage purposes. Otherwise, get plants or flower bulbs from a specialist nursery. Garden-grown bulbs can be divided in the fall or used for propagation in bulb sheds. Plant the bulbs 2 to 3 inches deep in fall or early spring