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The Lemon Lily
Lemon Lily or Parry's Lily, Lilium parryi, is named in honor of Dr. Charles Christopher Parry, a renowned botanist who was among the first to collect it in the summer of 1876.
Lilium parryi of the Family Liliaceae is a perennial herb which grows from a bulb with a stem reaching a height of 1.9 meters. It has scattered or whorled leaves with very fragrant lemon-yellow funnel shaped flowers. In Southern California it grows in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains as well as Palomar Mountain. Small populations can also be found in southeastern Arizona in the Santa Rita, Huachuca, and Chiricahua Mountains and in extreme northern Sonora,Mexico in the Sierra los Ajos.
The lilies inhabit springs, seeps, wet meadows, and shady canyon bottoms along perennial streams at an elevation of 4,000 to 9,000 feet. Forest fire and subsequent erosion have severely impacted three populations in Arizona (Falk and Warren, 1994), and their populations have been negatively impacted by “flower pullers” in Palomar (Craig H. Reiser, 1994) and bulb collectors in San Jacinto (H.M. Hall, 1902). It is uncommon throughout its California range and close to extirpation in San Diego County (Craig H. Reiser, 1994) and is listed by state and federal agencies as a sensitive species that should be protected.
The following images and text by Michael Charters Copyright @ 2005-2009 used with permission. (Visit Michael's site at: www.calflora.net/bloomingplants/lemonlily.html)
Lemon lily is a slender-stemmed perennial growing to 5' tall in moist, springy areas, wet meadows and along shaded stream banks from 4000' to 9000'. The leaves tend to be somewhat scattered in young plants and as they age develop into 1-8 whorls. The individual leaves are usually quite linear and are 3"-6" long. There are 1-several showy fragrant flowers which are bright lemon-yellow in color with occasional maroon spots, and six perienth segments, with the sepals and petals appearing much the same. The tips of these segments are turned back but not as much as with Lilium humboldtii. The stamens are about the same length as the perianth, but because the perianth parts are reflexed, they generally appear exserted. The anthers are a pale magenta-brown and the pistil is about 4" long. Although uncommon, it may be found in montane coniferous forest in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mts, and in the Peninsular Range. It blooms from July to August. (Michael L. Charters)
The Baby Lily
Part of the Lemon Lily Festival project is learning how Lemon Lilies grow. Dave Stith has been working with Forest Service botanists Kate Kramer and William Schlegel nurturing seedlings collected from 2009. These seedlings are destined to return to the wild as part of the restoration program. Seedlings photographed by Avianna Jones on 3/18/2010. Click on an image to see it full size.
Sprouting seeds from March 11, 2010.
