Lilium lancifolium var. lancifolium (tiger lily, "Oniyuri")

Japanese name: オニユリ （鬼百合）
Scientific name: Lilium lancifolium var. lancifolium

[Overview]
A perennial 100–200 cm tall.
It is found on rice paddy ridges and roadsides near human settlements.
Underground it has a fleshy, yellowish-white bulb, oblate to ovoid and 5–8 cm across.
The stem is tinged dark purple and has white cottony hairs while young.
Leaves are simple and alternate, lanceolate, 5–15 cm long, with entire margins.
There is no leaf stalk.
Purplish-brown bulbils (propagules) form in the leaf axils, and the plant can also be propagated by bulbils.
A raceme to panicle at the top of the stem bears several to 20 flowers that open facing obliquely downward.
The flowers are funnel-shaped. The tepals are strongly recurved, 7–10 cm long and orange-red, with blackish-brown spots on the inner surface.
The pollen is blackish brown.
Fruit does not normally form.

[History]
Because it does not set fruit and most plants are triploid, among other reasons, there is a view that the plants found in Japan were brought from China long ago as a food plant and then spread.

[Uses]
The bulb is slightly bitter, but it is called yurine and eaten.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by scale cuttings or bulbils (propagules).
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil rich in humus.
Avoid excess moisture and ensure good drainage and ventilation. In winter, protect it from cold wind.
For potted plants, water when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, watering is unnecessary unless it becomes severely dry.
As a base fertilizer, give a slow-release fertilizer mainly of phosphorus and potassium, and from spring until the flowering period apply a top dressing with equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Pests and diseases include virus disease, rot and aphids.

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