'L. maculatum' (Lilium)

Its status as a species is sometimes disputed and has, at times, been lumped in with species such as Lilium dauricum . The Ofuna Botanical Garden has regarded it as a species and being a Japanese native lily, they should know best. Ofuna was our first source of seed for this wonderful lily.

Found growing in the beach grasses of the northern islands of Japan, this species is noted for its extremely heavy root system, required to anchor it against winter storms. The flowers are rather open and are a lovely shade of apricot orange with a tinge of pink. A strong grower in the garden, it is spotted in purple-black. The most notable variant of this species is the yellow form, Lilium maculatum flavum , which we feel is even lovelier than the type. 'Yellow Blaze' from the breeding of David Stone and Henry Payne in the 1960's is almost a dead ringer of this lovely color variant.

Photo inset is of one of our unnamed hybrid selections from L. maculatum.