August 23 | Plant of the week Part IX

Lily Time

Many of the well-known and unknown garden lilies originally come from the high herbaceous flora and woody edges of the Himalayas. Here, Guggerbachtal-Alpinum at the Schatzalp, we show a wonderful, rare wild form, Lilium lijiangense, from east Tibet and west Sichuan, as well as from north Yunnan. The forest and forest edge plant grows in the protection of small trees and grassland, in nutrient-rich and well-drained soil. The beautiful yellow, often violet or brownish spotted, fragrant flowers sit singly or in groups of up to 6 nodding in a hanging raceme and look very distinctive. The individual flowers almost seem to be floating in the air. The species can vary greatly and is therefore also listed under other names such as L. ninganense and L. huidongense.
It grows at an altitude of about 3300 m above sea level.