Twilight lily is a wild lily from the mountains of Korea and eastern China whose orange, maroon-spotted flowers point straight up at the sky. It doesn't grow wild in the United States, but lily collectors sometimes grow it in gardens.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A bulb-forming perennial with a single stem, usually about 1.5–3 ft (0.5–1 m) tall.
- Leaves
- Smooth, narrow leaves about 5 in (13 cm) long, mostly arranged in whorls around the stem.
- Flowers
- Several upward-facing, shallow cup-shaped flowers per stem, mostly 1–5 on wild Korean plants and sometimes up to about a dozen in cultivation, in orange or red-orange with maroon spots. Each is about 2 in (5 cm) across, and they have no scent.
- Flowering time
- Midsummer; in Korea mostly early to mid-July.
Look-alikes
tiger lilyLilium lancifolium
Tiger lily grows much taller (up to about 6.5 ft / 2 m) and carries small dark where the leaves meet the stem; twilight lily has none.
Why they get mixed upBoth have orange flowers with dark spots.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- mountain woodlands
- forest edges
- Range
- Native to Korea and eastern China (Anhui and Shandong provinces). In Korea it grows on mountains across the country, from about 270 ft (82 m) to about 3,900 ft (1,180 m).
Growing it
- Care
- Hardy to about -4°F (-20°C). Grows in full sun or partial shade in moist, well-drained soil and does best in acidic soil.
Name and classification
- About the name
- The species name honors Qingdao, China, spelled Tsingtau when the plant was first described in 1904.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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