Herb: Fire Lily


Latin name: Lilium bulbiferum


Synonyms: Lilium croceum


Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)



Edible parts of Fire Lily:

Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mealy, they make very fair eating and can be used as a potato substitute.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Bulb


Height:
120 cm
(4 feet)

Flowering:
June
to July

Habitat of the herb:

Scrub, amongst bracken and on rocky slopes.

Propagation of Fire 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. Bulbils - gather in late summer when they start to fall off the stems and pot up immediately. Grow on in a greenhouse until large enough to go outside. 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:

Scrub, amongst bracken and on rocky slopes.

Medicinal use of Fire Lily:

None known

Known hazards of Lilium bulbiferum:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.