Michigan Lily

Image by jerryoldenettel via Flickr When I saw this flower on the side of the road I thought it had escaped from a garden. These orange lilies, with their polka dot petals pulled up and long stamens dangling look very exotic. After I did a little research, I was surprised to find out that the Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense) is a native wild flower.

If you see this lily don't pick it. Populations of Michigan lilies should be protected if possible. They reproduce very slowly from seed, taking several years to bloom. The plants have a small scaled bulb and they also produce rhizomes underground that eventually produce new bulblets and then new plants.