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Liliaceae FAMILY

Lilium japonicum

Lilium japonicum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Lilium japonicum 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]. Grows well in open woodland[2]. Likes plenty of moisture and some shade[3, 4]. Just to totally confuse matters, one report says that this species prefers a poor gravelly loam with plenty of leafmold and some charcoal, in a sunny position[5]. Requires protection from winter rains[5]. The sub-species L. japonicum platyfolium is more vigorous than the type with broader leaves. Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15 - 20cm deep[5]. 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[1]. A very ornamental plant[2], it is cultivated for its bulb in Japan[6] and is also a sacred flower in Japanese Shinto rites[7]. 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 - delayed hypogeal germination[8]. Best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring[5]. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long[9]. 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[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]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lilium+japonicum>

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]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  4. [4]Growing Lilies. — Fox. D. · Croom Helm · 1985 ↩︎A lovely and very readable book dealing with the cultivation of the genus Lilium.
  5. [5]Lilies - Their Culture and Management. — Woodcock. and Coutts. · Country Life · 1935 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic, but dated. Deals with the genus Lilium.
  6. [6]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  7. [7]Atlas of Medicinal Plants. — Kariyone. T. · Nihon Rinshosha; Osaka · 1973 ↩︎A good Japanese herbal.
  8. [8]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.
  9. [9]Lilies and Related Plants. — RHS Lily Group. ↩︎Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)
  10. [10]Flora of Japan. (English translation) — Ohwi. G. · Smithsonian Institution · 1965 · ISBN - ↩︎The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  12. [12]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.
  13. [13]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.
  14. [14]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
  15. [15]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  16. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎