North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Lilium superbum

Lilium superbum L.

turk’s-cap lily, lily-royal

Synonym(s): Lilium canadense ssp. superbum, Lilium canadense ssp. superbum, Lilium gazarubrum, Lilium mary-henryae

Image ID: 9272
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: LISU
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lilium superbum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-11-29

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: LILIU
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Lilium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Lily
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 110 species, of temperate northern hemisphere (especially e. Asia). Many taxonomic problems remain in this genus of showy ornamentals.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Adams & Dress (1982)=Z; Skinner & Sorrie (2002)=X; Wherry (1946)=Y; Skinner in FNA (2002a); Henry (1946); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LILIAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Liliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Lily Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial from a bulb, found in cove forests, moist ravines, blackwater stream swamps and Coastal Plain bogs.
STEMS: Stems unbranched, smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves in 6-24 whorls of 3-8 (or more) leaves each, sessile (some alternate too), lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic, to 10 in. long, smooth.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers 3-30+ in a terminal, pyramidal raceme, dangling from long stalks; yellow-orange to reddish with many brown-purple spots; 3-5 in. wide; consisting of 6 strongly recurved, lance-shaped tepals with green nectaries at their base and 6 stamens with rust-colored anthers.
FRUITS: Fruit an oval capsule.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 3-7 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Whorled
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jul-Aug

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Red, orange or yellow flowers

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
	x		x	x

FRUITING PERIOD: Sep-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Lilium superbum is the largest and most spectacular of the native Lilies. Up to 40 flowers have been recorded on a single plant. Each showy flower is about 3-4"across, with 6 tepals that flare outward and then curve strongly backward beyond the base of the flower. These tepals are yellowish orange or green near the base of the flower, and become orange to dark orange towards their tips. They have numerous brownish purple dots toward the throat of the flower. The flowers are commonly pollinated by swallowtail butterflies.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet, Well-drained
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 7
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 10
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
93	HORT	2008-09-17	Wilbur-Brooks	View
1571	HORT	2005-09-30	Bryan	View
1595	HORT	2005-09-30	Bryan	View
2557	NPMD	2021-10-05	Pil	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
92	2012-0064	2012-06-06	93	View
2093	1986-1893			View
4874	1994-0092			View
8672	2006-0291	2006-10-06		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
124	92	32	Mixon	2012-03-28	View
125	92	42	Mixon	2012-03-28	View
3484	2093	189	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
7281	4874	189	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
7282	4874	1	NCBG staff	1994-04-15	View
7283	4874	11	NCBG staff	1994-04-15	View
11885	8672	71	Heiney	2006-07-10	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: LISU
USDA Common Name: Turk's-cap Lily
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACW				FACW			FACW	FACW

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lilium superbum
COMMON NAME: Turk's-cap Lily, Lily-royal
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, GW, K, Pa, RAB, S, Tn, Va, W, WH3, WV, X, Y, Z; < L. superbum - G]
PHENOLOGY: Jul-Aug; Sep-Oct.
HABITAT: Cove forests and moist forests, moist ravines, blackwater stream swamps, Coastal plain bogs.
COMMENTS: MA and s. NY south to ne. NC, Panhandle FL, and c. MS, southward primarily in the Appalachians, but extending across the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain of VA and ne. NC, and with a similarly odd extension south of the southern terminus of the Appalachians into the Coastal Plain of GA, w. FL, AL, and MS. The plants of blackwater swamps of se. VA and ne. NC are very narrow-leaved and yellow-tepaled; this form, atypical in habitat, range, and morphology has been referred to speculatively as Lilium species 1. Further study is needed to determine whether it is a distinct taxon (species, or variety of L. superbum) or only a form.
RANGE MAP: Lilium superbum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Liliaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Lily Family)
SUMMARY: As here interpreted narrowly, the Liliaceae constitutes about 11 genera and 550 species, of the Northern Hemisphere. There has been much investigation and re-interpretation of evidence regarding the upper-level taxonomy of the Liliales, with strong suggestions that the broad Liliaceae recognized by Cronquist (1981) is artificial and polyphyletic. Cronquist (1981) himself concurs, at least to a degree: we still await a comprehensive reorganization of the lilies into several families more comparable to other recognized families of angiosperms. Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) and Dahlgren, Clifford, & Yeo (1985) synthesized an early phase in the modern revolution of monocot taxonomy. Since then, additional research, especially molecular (Duvall et al. 1993, Chase et al. 1993, Bogler & Simpson 1995, and many others more recently), has strongly validated the general lines (and many details) of Dahlgrens arrangement.
REFERENCE: Chen et al. (2013); Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (1998, 2003, 2009); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a). [also see AGAVACEAE, ALLIACEAE, ALSTROEMERIACEAE, AMARYLLIDACEAE, ASPARAGACEAE, COLCHICACEAE, HELONIADACEAE, HEMEROCALLIDACEAE, HOSTACEAE, HYACINTHACEAE, HYPOXIDACEAE, MELANTHIACEAE, NARTHECIACEAE, RUSCACEAE, SMILACACEAE, THEMIDACEAE, TOFIELDIACEAE, TRILLIACEAE, XEROPHYLLACEAE]

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Lilium L. (Lily)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 110 species, of temperate northern hemisphere (especially e. Asia). Many taxonomic problems remain in this genus of showy ornamentals.
REFERENCE: Adams & Dress (1982)=Z; Skinner & Sorrie (2002)=X; Wherry (1946)=Y; Skinner in FNA (2002a); Henry (1946); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Lilium superbum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Lilium superbum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Lilium superbum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Lilium superbum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Lilium superbum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Lilium superbum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9272 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 24977 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 9272 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)