Manchurian turk's-cap lily is a wild lily of northeast Asia, with a single wheel of leaves partway up the stem and orange flowers that face sideways or nod in midsummer. It grows in forests and forest edges in Korea, northeastern China, and the Russian Far East. It does not grow wild in the US.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A bulb-forming perennial about 2–4 ft (60–120 cm) tall.
- Leaves
- One of 7–9 leaves (sometimes up to 20) circles the middle of the stem, with a few small scattered leaves above. The species name distichum refers to these two kinds of leaves.
- Flowers
- Each stem carries about 2–10 orange to pale vermilion flowers with purple spots; the petals curve back slightly and the flowers face outward or nod.
- Flowering time
- July and August in its native range.
- Fruit
- An oval seed capsule about 3/4 in (2 cm) long ripens in September.
Look-alikes
tiger lilyLilium lancifolium
Tiger lily carries small dark bulblets where its leaves meet the stem.
Why they get mixed upBoth have orange, spotted, backward-curving petals.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- mountain forests
- forest edges
- thickets
- Range
- Native to Korea, northeastern China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning), and the Russian Far East (Primorye, Amur, Khabarovsk). Not found wild in North America.
- Preferred conditions
- Grows among shrubs, on forested slopes, and along forest margins from about 650 to 5,900 ft (200–1,800 m).
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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