Oniyuri: Tiger Lily

ONIYURI is Japanese name. American name is tiger lily. Because the origin of the name is slightly bigger than Lilium Maximowiczii growing wild in the mountainous districts; a tiger lily. It is said that ONI likened the state that the flower of the bigarade red blooms with an ogre (similar) to the face of the ogre.

When we drive the mountains in the Kinki region northward in summer, the tiger lily is generally the flower we see. But there is not the spontaneous generation in Shikoku, Kyushu. The big flower 25 centimeters; it is maximum grade in the flower.

The bulb was one of the main exports until the Taisho era since it was introduced as a Japanese lily in Vienna World Exposition (1873). A tiger liliy was given an important post as a stock plant of the cultivar. Probably because of the omnipresence of the flower, it is designated many prefectural flowers (Kanagawa), a city flower (Hachioji / whereabouts / Tookamachi / Tono / Kashiwazaki / Hadano), a town flower.

The tiger lily is Plantae kingdome, Magnoliophyta phylum, Liliopsida class, Liliidae subclass, Liliales order, Liliaceae family, Lilium genus, Lilium lancifolium species.

The tiger lily grows naturally in the east of Guam, China, Korean Peninsula and Japan. It’s ordinarily seen in low mountains from plains in Kyushu to Hokkaido by Japan and is said to be the introduction kind from China in another view.

It is perennial plant that grows to the grassland around human dwellings and the shore, the cliff. In addition, the cultivation is promoted, too.

There is debate about whether it is an introduced species or a volunteer in most of the places where it grows wild, but it not become clear. Tiger lily is three times body, and the same as a cluster-amaryllis, a fringed iris brought in from the point, the continent, and most are interesting.

Lilium leichtlinii resembles closely Lilium Maximowiczii at a long distance, but it can be distinguished by the presence of bulbil.

The large-sized lily can be seen around. The leaf grows altherhate leaves, and the tip is sharp in a smallish lancet and arches loosely. The stem has a small spot with purple brown. The petal produces the spot of the dark purple with orange, seal brown from July to August in flowering season. The petal strongly warps. It does not produce seeds, but grows a brood bud of dark purple on the root of the leaf. The scaly bulb becomes edible like a gold-banded lily.

As for the tiger lily, the ridges of a field and the field often grow in around human dwellings. Tiger lilies are seen a lot in a whole Kochi.