double-flowered tiger lily; was: Re: [pbs] Bulb Odds and end
DaveKarn@aol.com (Tue, 13 Jul 2004 09:12:02 PDT)

In a message dated 13-Jul-04 7:43:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
totototo@pacificcoast.net writes:

Rodger ~

Yes, unfortunately. Caveat emptor is just as important in this respect as it
is for anything, I guess. In other words, know what you are buying and (more
importantly) know your source. The mass catalog houses seem to find no
conflict of interest in renaming almost any plant with a catchy name to increase
sales. I think 'Citronella' (it is certainly a hybrid, but without any "tiger
lily" in its makeup) is a selection from the old Oregon Bulb Farms 'Fiesta
Strain' of lilies that came into the market in the 1950s.

<<> Does anyone know anything about a *yellow* form of the tiger lily? <>>>

That's an interesting question. 'Nutmeggar' has been mentioned recently as a
"tiger lily" hybrid and I once grew something called 'Prawn Tiger' that I
thought was also one of these hybrids. Looking them up, the parentage is listed
as (L. tigrinum var. flaviflorum x 'Gold Urn'). Now, all these years later,
one can only speculate what Stone and Payne were using when they stated what
they did for parentage. I don't know that the whole species vs hybrid issue
with respect to L. tigrinum/L. lancifolium is at all settled. The "yellow
tiger lily" may, after all, have just been another hybrid with traits that were
determined to be useful in S&P's breeding program. Incidentally, 'Prawn Tiger'
was a vigorous, tall lily that (planted thickly enough) could actually be used
as a hedge! The flowers were open and floppy and the color something of a
salmon-pink with lots of spots, although not overpoweringly so. Like
'Nutmeggar,' it probably also produced copious bulbils (I don't recall).

Dave Karnstedt
Silverton, Oregon, USA