Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Humboldt's Lily
Lilium humboldtii
  
13 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Humboldt's Lily (Lilium humboldtii) 13 Nurseries Carry This Plant Humboldt's Lily is a species of lily endemic to California named after naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. It is native to the South High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, south Outer South Coast Ranges, and Southwestern California, growing at elevations from 600 meters (2,000 feet) to 1,200 meters (3,900 feet). It grows up to 8 feet tall, with flowers that are large and showy, golden-orange with dark red or maroon splotches and orange to brown stamens. The plant flowers in June, with flowers growing in a pyramidal flower cluster. The flowers are on stout stems, which are sometimes brown-purple. The subrhizomatous bulb is large, with yellowish-white scales, and grows very deep in the soil. The leaves grow in whorls, and are undulate, shiny, and oblance-shaped. It is summer-deciduous, dying back after flowering in mid- to late summer, and it should be allowed to go dry at that time. In winter it will do well with minimal supplemental water unless it is an especially dry winter. There are two recognized subspecies. Ssp. humbodtii is found primarily in the foothills of the Sierras; ssp. ocellatum is found primarily in southern California on the coastal side of the mountains and on the Channel Islands. Both subspecies are considered rare.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb

Size
Size
6 - 8 ft tall
1 ft wide

Form
Form
Upright Columnar

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Brown, Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 2 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Spilosoma virginica Image
Virginian Tiger Moth Spilosoma virginicaSpilosoma virginica
*
Euxoa messoria Image
Reaper Dart Euxoa messoriaEuxoa messoria

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Part Shade, Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low, Moderate - High

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 2x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 13

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Tolerates clay but prefers a well drained loam. Soil PH: 5.0 - 7.0

Common uses
Common uses
Hummingbird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Southern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos species), Spice Bush (Calycanthus occidentalis), Tree Anemone (Carpenteria californica), Ceanothus species, Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis), Dogwood (Cornus species), Silktassel Bush (Garrya species), Mallow (Malacothamnus species), Mock Orange (Philidelphus lewisii), Oaks (Quercus species), Gooseberry (Ribes species), Ferns

Maintenance
Maintenance
Can be cut back to the ground in late summer after it has gone completely dormant

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: Sow outdoors in summer for germination the following spring, or 3-6 mos. warm then 2-3 mos. cold stratification. Seeds may also give good germination by spring if sown outdoors in early fall. For forcing slightly green or fresh seeds: 6-8 wks. warm (70°F) stratification or until the majority of seeds have formed bulblets; then 4-6 wks. cold (about 35°FJ stratification; sow, and at 55 to 60°F leaves should be produced in 4-6 wks. (De Graaff 1951).

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Moist canyons, protected places on slopes or flats, often alongside streams

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 10.5" - 83.8", Summer Precipitation: 0.15" - 2.84", Coldest Month: 26.3" - 55.2", Hottest Month: 54.1" - 81.0", Humidity: 0.43" - 31.99", Elevation: -62" - 7664"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Humboldt Lily


Print Plant Sign Print Plant Label
Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In