natural herbs
Golden-Rayed Lily
Lilium auratum

Herb: Golden-Rayed Lily

Latin name: Lilium auratum

Synonyms: Lilium dexteri

Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Edible parts of Golden-Rayed Lily:

Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mucilaginous with a mild flavour that makes them acceptable to people who have never tried them before. The bulbs are used as a vegetable, and can also be boiled, sweetened, powdered and used in dumplings. Large, they can be up to 17cm in diameter.

Description of the plant:

Plant:

Bulb

Height:

180 cm
(6 feet)

Flowering:

August to
September

Scent:

Scented
Bulb

Habitat of the herb:

Hills and mountains in scrub or grassy places, in volcanic ash or poor gravelly soils, always on steep well-drained slopes.

Propagation of Golden-Rayed Lily:

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. Root bulbils - dig up in autumn and pot up in a cold frame for the first year. 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.

Cultivation of the herb: