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Lilium superbum

Common name:	Swamp Lily	Family:	Liliaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 235
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - New Brunswick to Ontario, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri.
Habitat:	Peaty meadows, swales, wet sands and swampy woods[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	L. canadense ssp. superbum[B,P] L. canadense ssp. superum[B,P] L. gazarubrum[B,P] L. mary-henryae[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Turk's Cap Lily [H], Turk's-cap Lily [L,B], Turkscap Lily [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	superbum = superb;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Liliales. Lily family

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 2.4m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral 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, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Root.

Bulb - cooked[2, 61, 105]. A starchy and slightly sweet taste[85]. Fleshy. Used like potatoes[85] or as a thickener in soups[46, 183]. The bulb is up to 5cm in diameter[235].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[200]. Requires a lime-free soil[28, 42, 47, 143]. Does well in a woodland, succeeding in sun or shade[28, 42, 143].
Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 12 - 20cm deep on a few stones[143]. 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].
A very ornamental plant[1], it flowers in 4 years from seed[143].
Hybridizes with L. canadense but does not seem to cross with other species[143].
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 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].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[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.
[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.

[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.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[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.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to 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.

[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)

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[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.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

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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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