Common Name: Fire Lily

General Information

Lilium bulbiferumis a herbaceous perennial bulbiferous plant producing a leafy stem around 120cm tall
The plant iss harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is cultivated as a food crop in China and as a medicinal plant in Germany[]. It is often grown as an ornamental.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Eastern Central Europe - Germany to Poland, south to Spain, Italy, the Balkans and Romania.

Habitat

Scrub, amongst bracken and on rocky slopes[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	1.20 m
Pollinators	Bees
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Lilium bulbiferum is a moderately cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -15°c when fully dormant[].
Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[, ] and in calcareous soils[, ]. Prefers summer shade[].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15cm 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[].
This is one of the easiest lilies to grow[], it is cultivated for its edible bulb in Japan[].
The plant should be protected against slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour[].
The typical form of this species forms bulbils on its stems[]. The sub-species L. bulbiferum croceum does not normally produce bulbils[].

Edible Uses

Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mealy[], they make very fair eating and can be used as a potato substitute[]. The bulb can be used fresh or dried[]. The bulb is made up of many imbricate, fleshy scales, without a tunic[].

Medicinal

The flowers are important as folk medicine for the treatment of abscesses, wound disinfection and blood formation[]

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - delayed hypogeal germination[]. Best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring[]. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long[]. Grow on in cool shady conditions. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people 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[].
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[].
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[].