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Lilium martagon

Common name:	Turk's Cap Lily	Family:	Liliaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe to W. Asia. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Deciduous woods, scrub and mountain pasture, especially on limestone[13].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Aphrodelle [E], Martagon [E], Martagon Lily [L,P], Purple Turk's Cap Lily [H], Turkse Lelie [D],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Liliales. Lily family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Nc; Spain

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 1.2m by 0.25m . It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Root.

Bulb - cooked[2, 14, 61]. It is often dried for later use[46]. Rich in starch, it can be used as a vegetable in similar ways to potatoes (Solanum tuberosum).

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cardiac; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Emollient; Expectorant.

The bulb is diuretic, emmenagogue, emollient and expectorant[240]. They are used to relieve heart diseases, pain in the cardiac region and angina pectoris[240].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in ordinary well-drained garden soil[1, 42]. Prefers a good leafy soil in sun or semi-shade[90]. Prefers its roots to be in the shade[28]. Prefers a calcareous soil according to some reports[1, 4, 13, 90], whilst one says that it is probably best in an acid or neutral soil[47].
A very ornamental[1] and polymorphic plant[143]. It takes 7 - 8 years to flower from seed[143]. The flowers have an unpleasant odour[143]. The flowers are sweetly fragrant, especially at night in order to attract the night hawk-moth for pollination[245].
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[200].
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[200].

Propagation

Seed - delayed hypogeal germination[130]. Best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring[143]. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long[163]. 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[K].
Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately[200].
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[200].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers are sweetly fragrant, especially at night.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Liliaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.

[28] Knight. F. P. Plants for Shade. Royal Horticultural Society. 1980 ISBN 0-900629-78-9
A small but informative booklet listing plants that can be grown in shady positions with a few cultivation details.

[42] Grey. C. H. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate. 1938
Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[47] Fox. D. Growing Lilies. Croom Helm 1985
A lovely and very readable book dealing with the cultivation of the genus Lilium.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[90] Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Bulbs Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30253-1
Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.

[130] ? The Plantsman. Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. Royal Horticultural Society 1982
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.

[143] Woodcock. and Coutts. Lilies - Their Culture and Management. Country Life 1935
A classic, but dated. Deals with the genus Lilium.

[163] RHS Lily Group. Lilies and Related Plants.
Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. 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.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

Sanguisorba officinalis

Lukasz Luczaj (sluczaj@box43.gnet.pl) Sun Mar 10 20:47:00 2002

Dried and ground roots of Sanguisorba officinalis, Butomus umbellatus, Lilium martagon, Lilium spectabile and Typha latifolia were made into flour by Yakuts of Siberia. It was added to a dish called 'butugas'. Source: Maurizo A. 1926 "Pozywienie roslinne i rolnictwo w rozwoju dziejowym", Warsaw. Maurizo quoted the following original source: Sieroszewski W. 1900. "12 lat w kraju Jakutow", Warsaw.

Cross references: Plants: Sanguisorba officinalis, Typha latifolia, Lilium spectabile, Butomus umbellatus.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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