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Formosa lily (Lilium formosanum)

Dlium Formosa lily (Lilium formosanum)

Taiwanese lily or formosa lily (Lilium formosanum) is a species of plant in the Liliaceae, herbaceous, erect, up to 150 cm tall, with small, round, and 2-4 cm diameter bulbs, consisting of white to yellowish lanceolate scales.

L. formosanum has smooth to papillose stems and sometimes purple shades. Leaves are distributed radially around the stem. Leaves are linear or narrow and lanceolate, up to 20 cm long and up to 1.5 cm wide.



Each unit has 1-5 flowers, funnel-shaped, fragrant in umbels. Hermaphroditic flowers consist of 3 flowers. Six flower bracts are identical, broadly spatulate and up to 16 cm long. The flower base color is pure white and the outer part is purple.

Each flower contains 3 carpels and 6 stamens. Anthers are about 12 mm long and pollen is yellow. Filaments are very long, about 12 cm long. Nectar fruits are green and have papillose stalks on both sides. Seeds mature in capsules, slender and up to 9 cm long.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Tribe: Lilieae
Genus: Lilium Tourn. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 302 (1753)
Section: Leucolirion
Species: Lilium formosanum A.Wallace in Garden (London, 1871-1927) 40: 442 (1891)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Lilium formosanum var. microphyllum T.S.Liu & S.S.Ying in Fl. Taiwan 5: 61 (1978)
Lilium formosanum var. pricei Stoker in Lily Year-Book 4: 16 (1935)
Lilium longiflorum var. formosanum Baker in Gard. Chron., n.s., 14: 524 (1880)
Lilium philippinense var. formosanum Grove in Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 70: 63 (1921)
Lilium zairei Mynett & Mackiewicz in Acta Hort. 177: 667 (1986)

PUBLICATIONS

Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.

George, A.S. (ed.) (1987). Flora of Australia 45: 1-521. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

Grimshaw, J. (2005). Liliaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-4.

Healey, A.J. & Edgar, E. (1980). Flora of New Zealand 3: 1-220. R.E.Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.

Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (2016). Flora of Japan IVb: 1-335. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.

Orchard, A.E. (ed.) (1994). Oceanic Islands 1. Flora of Australia 49: 1-681. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Walderley, M.G.L., Shepherd, G.J., Melhem, T.S. & Giulietti, A.M. (eds.) (2005). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 4: 1-392. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.

Zhengyi, W. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2000). Flora of China 24: 1-431. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

VERNACULAR NAME

Afrikaans: Sintjosefslelie, Formosa lelie
Chinese (Simplified): 台湾百合
Chinese (Traditional): 臺灣百合 - 台灣百合 - 高砂百合 - 山蒜頭 - 野百合
English: Formosan Lily, Formosa lily, St Joseph's Lily, Saint Joseph's Lily, Wild lily, Trumpet flower, Mountain garlic, Master's flask
Finnish: formosanlilja
Indonesian: Bakung, Bunga lili
Japanese: タカサゴユリ
Polish: lilia tajwańska
Rukai: bariangalay
Russian: Лилия тайваньская (формозская)
Taiwan: 臺灣百合 - 台灣百合

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
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