Description

Lilium leichtlinii Hooker f. 1867

Origin:
China, Japan, Korea, Russia; sandy places, mountain grasslands, near sea level up to 1.300 m

Laboratory comment:
To get to “true & real” leichtlinii comes close a looking for a needle in a haystack. Although quite common as a usual garden-lily within Europe and America these sorts have nothing in common with the species Lilium leichtlinii but are sometimes any weird intrageneric crosses of Lilium amabile var. luteum with Lilium lancifolium or including some more strains. The result is astonishingly similar to Lilium leichtlinii in the flower and partly in the habitus but a plant which usually produces axil-bulbils annually or sometimes every few years what Lilium leichtlinii usually does not. So taxonomically seen these plants aren´t more than a genetic contamination, pretty though and very robust. In many cases, at least among Europe, the hybrid Citronella is sold as Lilium leichtlinii. This hybrid includes L. amabile, L. dauricum and L. davidii. Weird that Citronella not even carries any leichtlinii-genes at all. The only way to get to true and native material is to watch out for seeds in China and Japan.

Propagation:
sowing Lilium leichtlinii var. leichtlinii # 1 RHS ´03.18 (Lleichtl1)
source: RHS lily-group, UK
good germination, seedlings –> tissue-culture (09.20)

sowing Lilium leichtlinii var. leichtlinii # 1 YT ´04.18 (Lleichtl2)
source: Ysita Tomaso, Japan
good germination, seedlings –> tissue-culture (09.20)

product-image of Lilium leichtlinii var. leichtlinii in courtesy of Alan Mitchell