Natural History Wanderings

Humboldt’s lily/Lilium humboldtii

After over four years the Humboldt’s Lilies in our garden have become well established. The plants were started from seed. They were chosen because they grow in dry shade, handle clay soil and look pretty good too. This is only the second time they have flowered.

From Wikipedia:

Lilium humboldtii (Humboldt’s lily) is a species of lily native to the US State of California and the Mexican State of Baja California. It is named after naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. It is native to the South High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, south Outer South Coast Ranges, and the Santa Monica Mountains and others in Southern California, growing at elevations from 600 metres (2,000 ft) to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).

Lilium humboldtii grows up to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, with flowers that are maroon-spotted, golden-orange with dark red splotches, with orange to brown stamens. The plant flowers in June, with flowers growing in a pyramidal inflorescence. The flowers are on stout stems, which are sometimes brown-purple. The subrhizomatous bulb is large, with yellowish-white scales, and grows very deep in the soil. The leaves grow in whorls, and are undulate, shiny, and oblanceolate. It is summer-deciduous, dying back after flowering in mid- to late summer.

Subspecies
Lilium humboldtii subsp. humboldtii – central California
Lilium humboldtii subsp. ocellatum – southern California, Baja California
Both subspecies are on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California and described as “fairly endangered in California”.

Lilium humboldtii is sold as a garden bulb. It prefers dry summer dormancy, with no water after blooming, good drainage, and part shade. It was one of the parents, along with Lilium pardalinum, that produced the Bellingham hybrid lilies, which eventually resulted in the popular ‘Shuksan’ and ‘Star of Oregon’ lilies.