Lilium dauricum
Ker-Gawl.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Conveyor Belt
What to Eat
Edible parts: Flowers, Root
Bulb - cooked. The bulb is about 2m in diameter. Rich in starch, it can be used as a vegetable in similar ways to potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). Flowers. No further details are given.
Where to Find It
N.E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Siberia.
TEMPERATE ASIA: Russian Federation (Buryatia, Chita, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Tyva, Respublika, Yakutia-Sakha), Mongolia (north), Russian Federation (Habarovskij kraj, Primorye, Amur, Kamcatskij kraj, Sakhalin), China (Hebei Sheng, Heilongjiang Sheng, Jilin Sheng, Liaoning Sheng, Nei Mongol Zizhiqu), Korea, Japan
How to Identify
Lilium dauricum is a BULB growing to 1 m (3ft 3in) by 0.3 m (1ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.
How to Grow
Succeeds in ordinary garden soil. Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil in a sunny position, it rapidly degenerates if grown in shade. Prefers an acid soil but tolerates lime. The dormant bulb is very hardy and has withstood soil temperatures down to -20°c, though the embryonic flower shoot will be damaged at temperatures around -15°c. Stem rooting with a stoloniferous stem base, plant the bulbs 10 - 12cm deep. Early to mid autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn. A very ornamental plant. L. spectabilis, which is said to be a synonym of this species by many botanists, differs from this plant and therefore exists in its own right. The plant should be protected against rabbits and slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour.
Propagation: Seed - immediate epigeal germination. Sow thinly in pots from late winter to early spring in a cold frame. Should germinate in 2 - 4 weeks. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people prefer to leave them in the seed pot until they die down at the end of their second years growth. This necessitates sowing the seed thinly and using a reasonably fertile sowing medium. The plants will also require regular feeding when in growth. Divide the young bulbs when they are dormant, putting 2 - 3 in each pot, and grow them on for at least another year before planting them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant. Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately. Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbs in early autumn. If they are kept in a warm dark place in a bag of moist peat, they will produce bulblets. These bulblets can be potted up and grown on in the greenhouse until they are large enough to plant out. The formation of bulbils on the stem can be induced by either removing the stem at flowering time and layering it just below the soil surface, or by removing all the flowers before they open.
