Common Name: Swamp Lily

General Information

Lilium superbum is a herbaceous perennial bulbiferous plant producing a leafy stem growing from 120 - 280cm tall[]
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

Eastern N. America - Missouri to New Hampshire, south to Louisiana and Florida

Habitat

Peaty meadows, swales, wet sands and swampy woods[]. Gaps and openings in rich woods, swamp edges and bottoms, streamsides, moist meadows and thickets, balds, pine barrens, roadsides; at elevations up to 1,600 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	2.40 m
Pollinators	Butterflies
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Lilium superbum is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -35°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[]. Requires a lime-free soil[, , , ]. Does well in a woodland, succeeding in sun or shade[, , ].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 12 - 20cm deep on a few stones[]. 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[].
A very ornamental plant[], it flowers in 4 years from seed[].
Hybridizes with L. canadense but does not seem to cross with other species[].
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[].

Edible Uses

Bulb - cooked[, , ]. A starchy and slightly sweet taste[]. Fleshy. Used like potatoes[] or as a thickener in soups[, ]. The bulb is up to 5cm in diameter[]. The bulb is made up of many imbricate, fleshy leaf scales, without a tunic[].

Medicinal

None known

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[].
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[].