Back to main Search Page

Lilium lancifolium - Thunb.

Tiger Lily

Author	Thunb.	Botanical references	200, 266
Family	Liliaceae	Genus	Lilium
Synonyms	Lilium tigrinum - Ker-Gawl.
Known Hazards	The pollen is said to be poisonous, producing vomiting, drowsiness and purging[4].
Range	E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat	Long cultivated and not known in a truly wild situation, though it can naturalise in woodlands[279].. Possibly of hybrid origin involving L. leichtlinii and L. maculatum[90].
Edibility Rating	4 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 1.2m by 0.25m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Root.

Bulb - cooked[2, 4, 42, 47]. Somewhat bitterish[105]. Fairly pleasant, when properly cooked they are highly esteemed as a vegetable and somewhat resemble parsnips in flavour[183]. The bulbs are up to 8cm in diameter[266]. They are a good source of starch[105, 183]. The bulb can be dried and ground into powder. Flowers - raw or cooked. Used fresh or dried in salads, soups, rice dishes etc[183].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Antiinflammatory; Cardiac; Carminative; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Emollient; Expectorant; Ophthalmic; Women's complaints.

The bulb is antiinflammatory, diuretic, emmenagogue, emollient and expectorant[240, 279]. They are used to relieve heart diseases, pain in the cardiac region and angina pectoris[240]. They are used in Korea to treat coughs, sore throats, palpitations and boils[279]. The flowers are carminative[240]. They are used to strengthen the eye-lid muscles and are commended in the treatment of myopic astigmatism[240]. A tincture made from the flowering plant, harvested when in full flower, is used in the treatment of uterine neuralgia, congestion, irritation and the nausea of pregnancy[4]. It relieves the bearing-down pain accompanying uterine prolapse and is an important remedy in ovarian neuralgia[4].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[200]. Prefers a lime-free soil according to some reports[28, 47, 143], whilst one says that it succeeds in a calcareous soil[1] and another that it succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1, 42]. Prefers a deep acid loam[47]. Likes a sunny position according to one report[143] whilst others say that it is best grown in open woodland or amongst dwarf evergreen shrubs[1]. Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15 - 20cm deep[143]. 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[200]. Plants grow well in northern gardens in Britain[90]. A sterile triploid species, probably of hybrid origin[90]. A very ornamental plant[1], it is cultivated for its edible bulb in Japan[2, 42, 163]. This species tolerates virus infections, but it can transmit them to other species in this genus and so is best grown away from any of the other species[47]. 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[200].

Propagation

Seed - this species is completely sterile and does not produce seed. Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately[200]. 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[200]. Bulbils - gather in late summer when they start to fall off the stems and pot up immediately. Grow on in a greenhouse until large enough to go outside[200]. Plants can flower in three years from bulbils[4].

Links

This plant is also mentioned in the following PFAF articles: Alternative Root Crops, Edible Ornamental Plants, Why Perennials, The Potted Garden.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[28] Knight. F. P. Plants for Shade. Royal Horticultural Society. 1980 ISBN 0-900629-78-9
A small but informative booklet listing plants that can be grown in shady positions with a few cultivation details.

[42] Grey. C. H. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate. 1938
Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.

[47] Fox. D. Growing Lilies. Croom Helm 1985
A lovely and very readable book dealing with the cultivation of the genus Lilium.

[90] Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Bulbs Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30253-1
Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[143] Woodcock. and Coutts. Lilies - Their Culture and Management. Country Life 1935
A classic, but dated. Deals with the genus Lilium.

[163] RHS Lily Group. Lilies and Related Plants. 0
Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

[279] Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea World Health Organisation, Manila 1998 ISBN 92 9061 120 0
An excellent book with terse details about the medicinal uses of the plants with references to scientific trials. All plants are described, illustrated and brief details of habitats given.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Add a comment/link:

Discussion Monitor

To have posts to this page mailed to you enter your email address here:

(Your email address will not appear on the webpage or be passed on to third parties).