Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Lilium formosanum

Flowering stems. Photographer Jackie Miles

Mature seed cases. Photographer Jackie Miles

Common name

Taiwan lily, Formosan lily

Family

Liliaceae

Where found

Bushland, grassy areas, roadsides, and disturbed sites. Coast and ranges.

Notes

Introduced perennial herb to 2 m high. Leaves alternating up the stems, 7.5-20 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, becoming smaller in size up the stems, stalkless, hairless,  margins entire, tips pointed. Flowers fragrant, white, usually flushed mauve or reddish-purple and with a faint mauve or greenish midline on the outer face, 120-200 mm long, with a trumpet-shaped tube, 6 'petals', and 6 stamens topped with yellow or purplish anthers. Flowers single or in a cluster of up to 10 flowers. Flowers summer–autumn.

General Biosecurity Duty all NSW.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lilium~formosanum (accessed 22 January, 2021)