Lilium columbianum

Columbia lily

Liliaceae

The Basics

Taxonomy: Kingdom - Plantae (plants). Subkingdom - Tracheobionta (vascular plants). Superdivision - Spermatophyta (seed plants). Division - Magnoliophyta. Class - Liliopsida. Order - Liliidae. Family - Liliaceae (Lily family). Genus -Lilium L. Species - Lilium columbianum Leichtlin.

Ecology: A shade-intolerant, submontane to subalpine, Western North American forb distributed equally in the Pacific and Cordilleran regions. Occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils within bo­real, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Scattered in early-seral communi­ties, occasional in forested communities on water-shedding, often on colluvial. sites. Characteristic of open-canopy, young-seral forests.

Identification

General: Herbaceous, glabrous perennial from a large, ovoid bulb, the sturdy, unbranched stem 6-12 dm. tall.

Leaves: Leaves from whorled to nearly all scattered, lanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 4-10 cm. long and up to 3 cm. broad.

Flowers: Flowers 2-20 in a leafy-bracteate raceme on slightly recurved pedicels; tepals 6, 4-6 cm. long and 8-12 mm broad, yellow-orange to reddish-orange, freely spotted with purple or deep red, strongly recurved; filaments 6, slender, long-exerted, slightly exceeding the style.

Fruits: Capsule cylindric, 3-4 cm. long.

Reproduction

Lilium columbianum is a perennial herb that blooms depending on elevation. THe bloom is from May - August. Grows in well-drained soilds; dry in summer.

Species Distribution

Citation

E-Flora of British Columbia
In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2015. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 06/02/2017 10:26:29 AM ]

USDA Plants Database
USDA, NRCS. 201. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Distribution Map photo credit

University of Texas, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
TWC Staff 2015, University of Texas, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Flora of North America
Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 19+ vols. New York and Oxford.

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Burke Museum. 2017. Lilium columbianum [Online]. University of Washington.
Photo credit: 2005, G. D. Carr, Bud Kovalchik