Lilium occidentale
Lilium occidentale
Lilium occidentale is a species in the genus of lilies ( Lilium) in the American section. Lilium occidentale is rare and has never been used for breeding hybrids although their color is unusual and beautiful.
Description
Lilium occidentale reaches a height of 60 to 180 cm. The bulbs are small, roundish and reach a diameter of about 4 cm; they are covered with white scales and form rhizomes.
The stalk is hard and straight. The leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, up to 26 cm long and up to 3 cm wide. They are arranged in one to nine whorls of three to nineteen leaves.
The plant flowers from June to August having from 1 to 15 in a panicle nodding flowers with shiny texture. The hermaphrodite flowers are triple. The six arranged bloom ( tepals ) are strongly recurved ( Turk's cap form) and 4-8 cm long. The basic color of the flowers is greenish, the throat is orange to orange - red colored with dark brown spots. The tips of the tepals are brick red and crowded on the outside green. In each flower has three carpels and six stamens. The anthers are brown, the pollen is orange and the filaments are bright green, the dark nectaries.
The seeds mature in 2 to 5 cm large seed pods and germinate delayed - hypogeous.
Dissemination
The home of Art is located in the western United States in a narrow coastal strip of the Humboldt Bay ( California ) to Coos Bay in Oregon. She finds herself on never than six kilometers from the coast. Lilium occidentale is very rare and is under protection ( Fish and Wildlife Service 1998 ).
Lilium occidentale needs a moist soil; it grows best on wet meadows or wet places along forest edges.
Use
The Karok Indians ate the bulbs of the lily after they were baked in an earth oven, as a specialty.