Friday, July 16, 2010

TALL Orange Wildflower With Dark Brown Dots (Help Me ID!)

What is it? This plant I found near my cabin is awesome! At least 5-6 ft. tall!!! One big flower grows on the end of the long stem....
The steman (dingies in the middle) pertrudes far out the center of the orange flower --- the petals are actually turning backwards away from the center, which makes it look more exotic.
The leaves go in perfect circles around the stem- and are long and thin. Each circle of leaves is about 5 inches apart, and towards the top they spread out into one here and there.
Is this plant native to Western North Carolina? Can anyone help me figure out what this plant's name is???
Xoxoxox

7 comments:

kirk said...

Tiger Lily--It's native here in North Idaho.

Stephanie Rogers said...

Damn that is one hell of a beautiful tiger lily :)

Miss Voodoo said...

OK, on facebook I just had a heated debate with one friend and a few guesses from some other people....

I think it's this::

"""""Turk's Cap Lily
Lilium superbum
Lily family (Liliaceae)

Description: This native perennial plant is up to 6' tall and unbranched, except at the inflorescence. The central stem is stout and smooth. The leaves usually occur in whorls of 3-9 along the stem, although some of the upper leaves may occur along the stem in pairs or alternate individually. The leaves are individually up to 7" long and 1" across, rather stiff in texture, and sometimes curve upward along their margins. They are lanceolate or narrowly ovate, with smooth margins and parallel venation. Above the terminal leaves of the central stem, 1-12 flowers hang downward from stalks about 4-8" long that spread upward and outward. Some flowering stalks may also appear from the axils of the upper leaves. Each showy flower is about 3-4" across, with 6 tepals that flare outward and then curve strongly backward beyond the base of the flower. These tepals are yellowish orange or green near the base of the flower, and become orange to dark orange towards their tips. They have numerous brownish purple dots toward the throat of the flower. The stamens are quite conspicuous and strongly exerted from the base of the flower, with reddish brown to black anthers that are ½" long or longer in length. They surround a long whitish orange stigma that curls slightly upward and is orange or brown toward its tip. The blooming period occurs from early to mid-summer, and lasts about a month. There is no noticeable floral scent. The oblong 3-lobed seedpods contain closely stacked, flat seeds with thin papery wings – this enables them to be carried some distance by gusts of wind. The root system consists of a white bulb, from which new offsets may form."""""


It is one hella pretty flower!

Stephanie Rogers said...

Ohh, I think you're right! I have yet to stumble across anything quite this captivating on my travels through the woods, but you are able to get to such quiet spaces. I usually have to stick to well-traveled trails.

Liberty said...

my guess was going to be
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turk%27s_Cap_Lily

but it looks like that's already been guessed!

also called American Tiger Lily

I would So love to see one of those in person! it looks so exotic and to have it be that TALL makes it feel rainforesty to me!

kirk said...

The spEcies we have here in North IdaHO is Lilium Columbianum. I see them every couple acres or two in the woods.

The Caveman Teacher said...

Hey, just found your blog and loving it! As for the flower though: it is a Turk's cap lily. They are becoming rarer and rarer on their way to extinction. Protect it and help it thrive. They are not only beautiful, but the bulbs are edible, too. A lot of people confuse this with a tiger lily, but they are actually separate species with distinct and separate morphology. Also, don't try to transplant them. They don't like it. I accidentally killed two of them by trying to save them from the brush hog years ago. Beautiful, though, aren't they?