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Liliaceae FAMILY

Lilium davidii

Lilium davidii

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Lilium davidii is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -25°c when fully dormant[1]. Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[1]. An easily grown plant, it tolerates some lime in the soil[2, 3, 1]. Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15 - 20cm deep[2]. 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[2]. This species is occasionally cultivated for its edible bulb in China[2]. The plant is widely cultivated for its root according to another report[4]. 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[1].

Propagation

Seed - immediate epigeal germination[5]. Sow thinly in pots from late winter to early spring in a cold frame. Should germinate in 2 - 4 weeks[3]. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people prefer to 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[PFAF]. Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately[1]. 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[1]. The formation of bulbils on the stem can be induced by either removing the stem at flowering time and layering it just below the soil surface, or by removing all the flowers before they open. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lilium+davidii>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  2. [2]Lilies - Their Culture and Management. — Woodcock. and Coutts. · Country Life · 1935 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic, but dated. Deals with the genus Lilium.
  3. [3]Lilies and Related Plants. — RHS Lily Group. ↩︎Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)
  4. [4]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  5. [5]The Plantsman. Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1982 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants, including Distylium racemosum and some perennial members of the family Berberidaceae.
  6. [6]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of 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.
  7. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎