pbs : Lilium formosanum
Tony Avent (Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:49:24 PDT)

John and others:

While I was in Taiwan, I replied about the Lilium formosanum that I had
seen, all of which had the purple flower backs and were about 3-4'
tall. On our final day in the field, coming down from Ali Shan in the
Central Mountains, when we dropped below 5,000' elevation, all of a
sudden the Lilium formosanum below that elevation were all 6' tall and
had no purple staining to the back of the petals. These plants are
identical to the plant that we and others sell in the US as L.
formosanum. It appears that the variation is simply one of ecotypes
unless someone goes and names the non-purple back form as a subspecies.
I hope this sheds more light on the subject.

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website http://www.plantdelights.com/
phone 919 772-4794
fax 919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent