Description
This makes a small white bulb no more than 1.5 cm across. A slender short (15-20 cm) stem bears scattered grass-like leaves.
The flowers are Turk caps, with broad petals. Plants are 1-6 flowered, each bloom 2-3 cm across in a delicious shade of greenish-white. The petals are darker green in the centre and whitish at the edges and are spotted and dotted with chestnut brown. The whole flower is scented. As with many lilies this can be overpowering to some people.
This is late flowering, at the earliest in late July in our climate and more usually in Aug-Sept.
First described by Franchet in 1892 but not seen in western cultivation until 100 years later, this is a native of grassy fields on the edges of woods at 1500-1800 m N.W. Hubei. It reportedly grows at up to 2300 m in Szechuan and Yunnan.
It likes some shade and wind shelter coupled with good drainage, good air-circulation, cool to cold winters and humus in the soil. A dryish winter would elevate good cultivation to perfection.
This rare species has fascinated me since I first knew that it existed, and being able to offer it at last is a personal milestone.
