MT HOOD NATIVE PLANTS

A Remarkable Bloom to Behold

The Tiger Lily

As you wander in the early summer though the cool shade of the evergreen forest, or step out to the mountain meadows, you’ll be surprised by clumps of bright orange star-shaped, spotted blooms.  They look tropical, but Lilium columbianum, the Tiger Lily or Columbia Lily, belongs here in the woods and forest clearings from southern British Columbia to northern California.

These flowers love rich, moist and well-drained soil, so they thrive near trees and shrubs that take up lots of groundwater.  They also don’t mind crowding into dense groups.  Since their tall stems may reach over three feet with 2 or more blossoms each, these lilies put on quite a show.  The flowers are clustered at the top of the stem in an open raceme of several to twenty flowers. Individual flowers have 6 petals which are a bright yellowish-orange to reddish-orange color, with numerous deep red or purple spots, curving sharply upward. 

Lilium columbianum bulbs have a peppery or bitter taste, and were eaten steamed, boiled and baked by the Native American tribes of the area.  Tinctures made from fresh plants have been used to relieve congestion as well as morning sickness.  Deer also love the taste of tiger lilies and will devour them, which is why you will sometimes see these flowers blooming in dense, hard-to-get-though thickets.  If you lean close you’ll discover they have a light, delicate scent, but you may not want to smell too many:  there’s a superstition that smelling tiger lilies will give you freckles.

August/September 2008 « Back to this issue...