Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database


Lilium pardalinum ssp. vollmeri (Vollmer's Lily)

 

Kingdom Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass Liliidae
Order Liliales
Family Liliaceae – Lily family
Genus Lilium L. – lily
Species Lilium pardalinum Kellogg – leopard lily
Subspecies Lilium pardalinum Kellogg ssp. vollmeri (Eastw.) M.W. Skinner – Vollmer's lily

 

Photo credit: Mrs. W.D. Bransford

Lilium pardalinum Kellogg ssp. vollmeri (Eastw.) M.W. Skinner (Vollmer's lily) differs from the subspecies pardalinum in that it is taller, branches less often and less regularly. This lily does not form large colonies. The leaves are not as regularly occurring along the stems as ssp. pardalinum. Elsewise the two are very similar.

Flowering July to mid-August of this lily are not fragrant, they are sometimes clear orange but usually yellow-orange or orange with darker red-orange to red or crimson. Anthers are magenta or purple, pollen is dark orange or sometimes rust-orange.

Grows along streambanks. bogs, hillside springs or streams and other moist places with ferns and often with Darlingtonia californica (California Pitcher-Plant) in Oregon to California.

This subspecies follows a serpentine path in northwestern California and across the border to Oregon through the Siskiyou Mountains.There is a collection in Jackson County near Wilmer, Oregon, and is so far the most northern extent. Southward it blends with subspecies pardalinum, however it normally retains the smaller and redder flowers as well as skinnier leaves.

In shady locations, particularly in Oregon's Curry County, are more similar to ssp. pardalinum but not as standardized within the groups. Where the plant extends eastward toward Grayback Mountain in Oregon and Sanger Peak in California it cohabits with ssp. wigginsii and begets children with widely varying leaves, flowers and anther colors.

It is these mixed marriages that make would-be botanists vear toward detectives rather than green thumbs.

The USDA PLANTS database under Wetland Indicator Status has this announcement:

NOTE: On June 1, 2012, the 2012 National Wetland Plant List superseded the information below (see Federal Register, May 9, 2012, 77(90): 27210-27214[https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-11176]). For updated wetland information about this species, see the latest wetland list.

Photo credit: Mrs. W.D. Bransford

For a short comparison of northwest native lilies, click here.

Thanks to the following resources:

Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_kelloggii

Pacific Bulb Society, www.pnwflowers.com/flower/lilium-pardalinum-ssp-vollmeri

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The University of Texas at Austin, www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LIPAV

Flora of North America, www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102263

Contact:  star@chillirose.com ~ Copyright 2012 © Wallace W. Hansen ~ All rights reserved