Lilium michiganense Farw.

Michigan Lily

© DETenaglia

Family - Liliaceae

Habit - Perennial forb from a stout, scaly, light yellow bulb.

Stems - Flowering (aerial) stems ascending to erect, to 2 m, green, glabrous, glaucous.

	Bulb.
© KBildner

	Bulb and underground portion of stem.
© KBildner

	Stem and node.
© SRTurner

Leaves - Typically whorled, sometimes alternate at the lowermost or uppermost nodes, to 12 cm long, 5 cm broad, lanceolate to elliptic, tapered at both ends, glabrous above. Undersurface and margins roughened with minute, toothlike processes along the margins and the veins.

	Leaf whorl.
© SRTurner

	Leaf adaxial.
© SRTurner

	Leaf abaxial.
© SRTurner

	Leaf detail. Note minute teeth along margins and veins.
© SRTurner

Inflorescence - Terminal whorls of 2-5 flowers (more in cultivated plants), often reduced to a single flower. Flowers nodding, the long stalks bent abruptly near the tips.

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

Flowers - Perianth (tepals) 6, mostly red with a yellow base and brown speckles, recurved, to 10 cm long, with a green area (the nectary) 5-12 mm long at the base. Stamens 6, exserted well beyond perianth, the anthers 5-15 mm long. Style 1. Stigma 3-lobed.

	Flower.
© DETenaglia

	Flower.
© SRTurner

	Flower.
© SRTurner

Fruits - Barrel-shaped or ellipsoid capsules 3.0-4.5 cm long.

Flowering - June - July.

Habitat - Mesic bottomland to upland forests, streambanks, mesic upland to wet bottomland prairies, bluff ledges, roadsides, railroads. Frequently cultivated.

Origin - Native to the U.S.

Lookalikes - L. superbum.

Other info. - This is an easily recognized lily which is often cultivated. Horticultural forms may vary in perianth color and number of flowers terminating the stem. This is the most common species of Lilium found in the state, occurring in a number of widely scattered counties. Elsewhere its range is mainly within the U.S. upper Midwest.

This species is probably more common than generally realized. Plants which over time become overtopped by canopy eventually receive insufficient light for flowering; however, they will often continue to grow vegetatively for decades. These nonflowering plants blend in with other vegetation and often go undetected.

The plant's underground bulb is covered with numerous thick, fleshy scales (see photo above). These are functional propagules and can be used to grow new plants.

L. michiganense is closely related to L. superbum, which it closely resembles. It is differentiated from that species by the tiny teeth along the leaf margins and veins, which are lacking in L. superbum, and by its smaller anthers. Some authors list this plant as a subspecies of L. canadense L.

Photographs taken at Pultite Spring, Shannon County, MO., 6-27-04 DETenaglia); also at Shaw Nature Reserve, Franklin County, MO, 6-22-2007 and 6-30-2017, and Glassberg Conservation Area, Jefferson County, MO, 4-30-2020 (SRTurner); also in St. Louis, St. Louis County, MO, 10-23-2022 (KBildner).