Lilium canadense
Lilium canadense
The Canada lily, also Canadian Water Lily or Yellow Lily (Lilium canadense ) is a plant of the genus Lilium (Lilium ) in the section Pseudolirium.
Description
The Canada lily reaches a height of 60 to 180 cm wide and up to 25 cm. The onions are rounded and reach a diameter of about 4 cm; they are covered with white scales and form rhizomes.
The stem is hard, smooth and straight; the leaves are narrow and lanceolate, about 15 cm long and arranged to be six to twelve rings of four to ten sheets. The leaf veins are located on the underside of leaves and bear tiny thorns.
The plant flowers in June and July with one or even up to 20 in a candelabra -shaped umbel downward hanging flowers. The flowers consist of six outwardly reflexed petals; but the bend is never more than 90 °, so never bent back. There are three Kron and three sepals, but they look very similar. The color of the flowers varies from yellow through orange to red with dark brown spots. The anthers are magenta, the pollen rusty brown, the stamp bears the same color as the Petale. The individual flower reach a diameter of 75 to 150 mm.
The seeds ripen from August to September in upright 2.5 to 5 cm large seed pods. They germinate delayed - hypogeous after a warm - cold-warm cycle (autumn - winter-spring ) in which each period shall be two months approximately. It is very slow-growing, from seed to Blühreife it takes up to seven years.
Dissemination
The plant is from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and spread to the south to New England, Eastern Maryland and Pennsylvania. Low can be found in the mountains of South Carolina, northern Florida, Alabama and southern Indiana.
The Canada Lily needs a moist soil, best wet grass or moist areas on the edges of woods.
Use
The bulb of the Canada Lily is cooked very tasty. Since the plant is relatively common in Canada, there are many hikers who are looking for the plants and dig up the onions to cook them. The onions are sweeter than the other species of lilies due to a higher sugar content and can also boil a kind of molasses.
The plant has medicinal benefits. A tea made from the onion acts stomachic and helps with menstrual cramps and diarrhea. A Breipackung from the onion can be applied in snake bites.
The plant can be cultivated relatively simple and is common in American gardens.