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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Someone asked me once again about Lilium parryi var. kessleri, so I would like to clear up the confusion about this variety of Lemon Lily.
In 1924, Davidson defined a new taxon of Lemon Lily from the San Gabriel Mountains that he called var. kessleri based on the following characteristics:
- leaves large, ovate to lancelate, 12 to 15 cm long and 4 cm wide, sessile with a narrow base, thin in texture, semitransparent on drying and glistening on lower surface
- leaves below in whorls of 6, fewer and less definitely whorled above
- anthers brown, 5 to 7 mm long
- pistil much longer than anthers
This distinction has fallen out of favor. Modern floras either make no mention of var. kessleri or list it as a synonym for Lilium parryi. The latest treatment from the Flora of North America states:
"Plants from the San Gabriel Mountains of California sometimes have wider leaves and have been given the status Lilium parryi var. kessleri, but this variation is due primarily to the rather shaded habitat of many of these populations. No significant vegetative discontinuity can be recognized across the range of this species, so no varieties are recognized here."
I had noticed for some time that the leaf structure of Lemon Lilies is highly variable. Since leaf size was said to be the distinguishing factor for var. kessleri, in 2010 Tom Chester and I set about to test this claim by measuring Lemon Lily leaves wherever we found them in the San Jacintos. As expected we found plants with leaves with a wide range of sizes and shapes. Within our San Jacinto population we found some lilies that matched or even exceded the range of sizes given for var. kessleri. We also found plants with leaves that exceded the number per whorl for var. kessleri.
By reviewing his photos Tom found some flowers with yellow anthers and others that were brown, and plants whose pistil was longer than the anthers and others whose pistil was the same length as the anthers.
So even though some references, both old and new, still list var. kessleri we found nothing unique about it confirming what the FNA now asserts.
I would like to acknowledge Tom's assistance in this analysis, and Kate Kramer for finding the complete text of Davidson's 1924 article.
Dave
Saturday, September 10, 2011
This year's festival has concluded long ago, but the work still continues. In the last week I was able to collect a lot of Lemon Lily seeds in Idyllwild thanks to an abundance this year and the kind invitation of some local residents to collect seeds on private property.
The method employed was to collect seeds from as many plants as possible without depleting any one plant of all of its seeds. No seeds were collected from plants with only one flower and thus only one fruit. A few seeds were collected from plants with two or more fruit with more seeds collected from plants with more than five fruit. In no case was the contents of more than one fruit collected from any plant. In addition, I saw many plants with unripe fruit, so there are still many seeds to come that will be dispersed naturally.
We will continue our efforts to propagate lilies from the seeds we collected. With the abundance of seeds this year we will increase our efforts at seeding areas where there are no lilies. If we have an excess of seeds we may freeze the remainder for use in years when they are not as plentiful.
Dave
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A link to Nick Shah's slideshow of the 2011 Lemon Lily Festival High Country Hike is here:
Thank you Nick for this photodocumentary.
Dave
Thursday, July 21, 2011
For me the greatest joy of the Lemon Lily Festival weekend is having the opportunity to share the story of the Lemon Lily (Lilium parryi) and showcase the other local wildflowers that we so often take for granted but are seldom seen by people off the hill. The grand finale of these walks and talks is the Sunday High Country Hike. This year's hike did not disappoint.
Once again, Michael Wangler and I led two groups of hikers to see Lemon Lilies and other wildflowers in the majestic setting of the San Jacinto Wilderness where we emersed our senses in the sights, sounds, and smells of the mountain. It was great to see some familiar faces from last year's hike as well as others who were making their first venture into the San Jacintos. They proved to be keen observers even spotting Lemon Lilies that I had looked for but failed to find in previous hikes this season.
Photos by Nathaniel West:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nativenerd/sets/72157627218666800/
Dave
Saturday, July 9, 2011
We continue to find Lemon Lilies (Lilium parryi) in places we did not know about. Some due to tips from Idyllwild residents, and others resulting from hard work searching them out. Even in previously known locations there are more lilies this year than in past years, and there are more flowers on many of the plants.
Yesterday I counted six Lemon Lilies in bloom in a short section of Lilly Creek at the Idyllwild County Park. Sadly, some have been knocked down by the recent thunderstorm, but they are still bravely trying to bloom. There are two five footers towering above the Wild Rose (Rosa californica) bushes that have multiple flower buds and have not yet bloomed. I am optimistic that these will be in bloom and putting on quite a display during the festival.
Dave
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Last year I wrote that it was going to be a good year for wildflowers on the trails. Believe it or not, this year is even better. Two consecutive winters of average and above precipitation have been a godsend for the wildflowers all over the mountain. Tom Chester and I have added several new plant species to the Devils Slide Plant Trail Guide that we had not seen on the trail before this year. The guide now lists 120 taxa. You can see the guide here:
www.tchester.org/sb/plants/guides/devils_slide.html
On Friday Tom and I hiked the trail to update the guide in preparation for the Lemon Lily Festival High Country Hike. Surprisingly I found a little Lemon Lily (Llium parryi) right on the Devils Slide Trail. I have gotten pretty good at recognizing even the smallest of Lemon Lilies, and I had not seen this one before. This in spite of the fact that I have hiked this trail many times noting all the plants I see including in that very spot. In fact, none of our other keen eyed botanist friends can remember seeing it either. Tom thinks he may have seen this plant in 2003, but we have no documentation because it was before he began photographing plants on the trail. If so, this little Lemon Lily has been lying dormant for many years just waiting for enough water to begin growing again. This gives us an important clue as to how these plants respond to drought.
In the fern meadow above Saddle Junction we greeted our Lemon Lily friends that reside right next to the trail. Some are further along than others, but they were all still in bud. I am certain there will be a nice show of Lemon Lily flowers both on and off the trail for our hike 10 days from now.
There are a few spots left for the hike, so if you are interested send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll send you the information.
Dave