Species

Lilium formosanum

Common Name(s)

Formosan lily

Authority

Lilium formosanum A.Wallace

Family

Liliaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

LILFOR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Monocotyledonous Herbs

Habitat

Terrestrial, Disturbed areas, Roadsides, Dunes.

Features

Perennial herb with simple stem to about 75 cm. Stems root freely at ground level. Many dark-green strap-like leaves to about 13 cm long. Large white trumpet-like flowers, often tinged purple on the outside.

Similar Taxa

The large white flowers tinged purple make this lily quite distinctive.

Flowering

January, February, March

Flower Colours

Violet / Purple,White

Fruiting

Feb-April

Year Naturalised

1972

Origin

Taiwan

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Reproduction
Vegetative spread and seed.

Seed
Seed is produced

Dispersal
People, gravity and water

Tolerances
Tolerant of salt,

References and further reading

Cameron, E.K. 1989. Lilium formosanum ii. Auckland Botanical Society Journal, 44:48-49.

This page last updated on 15 Jan 2013