From “Lilies in the Wild” in Lilies by Carl Feldmaier:
“Lilium formosanum (Wallace 1891): As the name indicates, this lily comes from Formosa, where it grows among grass and bamboos in the volcanic and sandstone soils of the northern parts of the island….
“Distributed from sea level up to 10,000 feet, the height of the plant varies according to the altitude at which it is growing: at sea level its stem is 6 feet 6 inches long, decreasing to only 1 foot at an altitude of 10,000 feet…. In the subtropical lowlands, flowering follows unfailingly six to eight months after sowing, irrespective of season. But when it is grown in Europe the blooms do not appear until late October and the rather small, exhausted bulbs rarely overwinter and are often destroyed by frost.
“The very small bulbs, about 1/4 – 1/2 inches thick, are either white or pale-yellow; grass-like, leaf-covered stems of dark-purple grow to a height of 4 – 5 feet, although selection makes it possible to produce plants up to 10 feet tall. Nodding, white, funnel-shaped flowers, 4 1/2 – 6 inches long, narrow throat, wide-open mouth, tinged with pink along outside-centre rib, yellow pollen. Mostly only one or two flowers, long, cylindrical seed capsules, thin seeds with membrane around margins. Immediate germination. Easily recognized by its small bulb, which continually produces fresh shoots enabling the plant to flower throughout the year — unless damaged by frost….
“Because of its high susceptibility to virus infections, it is often used as a test plant. For this purpose it is inoculated with the sap of a lily which is suspected to have virus but shows no visible symptoms. Results are judged by whether the inoculated L. formosanum survives or dies.”
Hello!
This is the second of three posts with photographs of a lily with the scientific name Lilium formosanum, also known by the common names Formosa Lily, Taiwan Lily, or Taiwanese Lily. The first post — where I describe my discovery of this new planting at Oakland Cemetery and discuss some of its unique botanical characteristics — is Discovering the Formosa Lily (1 of 3).
The first two photographs below show something I found to be quite rare on my Formosa photoshoot: a pair of plants producing about ten blossoms simultaneously. Most of the other photographs in this series show only one or two flowers per plant — which may reflect differing soil conditions, their response to excess rain and thunderstorms damaging the plants, or other environmental factors affecting their growth cycle. Given this pair’s more protected space — it’s surrounded by trees and shrubs — it may have been safer from weather damage and reacted accordingly. This does suggest, though, that if I capture the Formosa’s at a different time in their lifecycle next year, I may find more large groupings of flowers like this. The exuberant display is likely designed to attract pollinators from greater visual distances, as part of the plant’s overall reproductive strategy.
Toward the end of these galleries, you can also see how the flowers are sometimes “tinged with pink along [the] outside-centre rib” as described in the excerpt from Lilies by Carl Feldmaier at the top of this post. You’ll see more flowers with pink tinge in the third post in this series — something the plant appears to produce when it receives less sunlight or is growing in richer, more nutrient-dense soil (as opposed to sandy soil). The presence of this additional color is a normal variation among Formosa Lilies, one that — if it is a response to less light — may be produced to encourage pollinator visits by showing them color contrasts.
Thanks for taking a look!





















Beautiful
Beautiful pictures and such an elegant flower !