Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Collected as seed at 720 meters on a south-facing hillside near Nanba, following the Fujiang River, Sichuan province, China, on September 22, 1988 by Charles Erskine, Hans Fliegner, Charles Howick and Bill McNamara.  This stunning lily is found on grassy hillsides and along rivers, and is endemic to southern Gansu, Hubei and Sichuan provinces, China.  It reaches heights of up to 2 meters with scattered, narrow and lanceolate leaves to 17 cm by 1 cm.  Flowers appear in June and July, in groups of 1-4, funnel-shaped and slightly fragrant with rose-purple exteriors that open to display white tepals with throats tinged pale-yellow at the base.  Large anthers produce pollen that is colored pale-yellow to orange to rust brown, contrasting vividly with the white tepals.

As with most wild lilies, this species thrives best in full sun, or only very light shade, with regular water and fast draining soil that is not too heavy (sandy loam to loam is best, rich in humus, though rocky soil is acceptable, as well).