Lilium pensylvanicum is a species belonging to the family Liliaceae

Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...

. Sometimes called the Siberian lily, it is native to a cold climate and needs frost in the winter. It is found in the wild form in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, Kamchatka, on Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

 and the Kuriles, northeast China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, and Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

. The Latin name is misleading due to an error by the botanist John Ker

John Bellenden Ker Gawler

John Bellenden Ker, originally John Gawler was an English botanist born about 1764 in Ramridge, Andover, Hampshire and died in June 1842 in the same town. On 5 November 1804 he changed his name to Ker Bellenden, but continued to sign his name as Bellenden Ker until his death...

.

Description

Lilium pensylvanicum reaches a height of 30 cm to 70 cm and has a width up to 25 cm. The stem is hard, smooth and straight, the leaves linear to lanceolate, 4 to 5  cm long and 3 to 4  mm wide. The plant flowers in June and July with one to six upright, dish-shaped flowers. The flower consists of six petals curving backward from the center. The seeds mature from August to September. The bulb is roundish with a diameter of about 2 cm.

Distribution in Japan

L. pensylvanicum is abundant in the wild form in the Notsuke Peninsula. Near the city of Betsukai, during July, in the “gardens of the flock of gruyas” there may be seen many photographers looking for the best snapshots of the flowering of the “Ezosukashiyuri”, as this species is popularly known in the Japanese language. The city Koshimizu Shari, on the island of Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, is known as the city of the Ezosukashiyuri flowers. In the Ainu language

Ainu language

Ainu is one of the Ainu languages, spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō....

 the flowers are called “Masarorunpe” and that is also the traditional Ainu oil lamp made from a large mussel shell and supported on a three-forked stick.

Cultivation

Lilium pensylvanicum is very undemanding and is easily cultivated. It is sensitive only in relation to drought. Thus the plant is popular in European and American gardens.

Synonyms

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

• Lilium dauricum Ker Gawl., Bot. Mag. 30: t. 1210 (1809).
• Lilium spectabile Link
  Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link
  Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link was a German naturalist and botanist.Link was born at Hildesheim as a son of the minister August Heinrich Link , who taught him the love for nature through collection of 'natural objects'...
  
  , Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 1: 321 (1821), nom. illeg.
• Lilium catesbaei Kunth, Enum. Pl. 4: 264 (1843), nom. illeg.
• Lilium formosum Lem., Ill. Hort. 12: t. 459 (1865).
• Lilium wilsonii T.Moore, Florist & Pomol. 1868: 192 (1868).
• Lilium bulbiferum subsp. dauricum (Ker Gawl.) Baker
  Baker
  A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
  
  , Gard. Chron. 1871: 1034 (1871).
• Lilium bulbiferum var. wilsonii (T.Moore) Baker, J. Roy. Hort. Soc. 4: 43 (1873).
• Lilium dahuricum Reuthe
  Reuthe
  Reuthe is a small village in Vorarlberg, Austria in the district of Bregenz. Its main income is tourism.-External links:*http://www.tiscover.at/reuthe*http://www.bregenzerwaldhotels.at/...
  
  , Gartenflora 41: 476 (1891).
• Lilium maculatum subsp. dauricum (Ker Gawl.) H.Hara, J. Jap. Bot. 38: 249 (1963).
• Lilium maculatum var. dauricum (Ker Gawl.) Ohwi, Fl. Jap., ed. rev.: 1438 (1965).
• Lilium sachalinense Vrishcz, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 1968: 48 (1968).