Lilium catesbyi Walter

Pine Lily; Southern Red Lily; Catesby's Lily

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Pine Lily is a native herbaceous perennial in the Lily family (Liliaceae). It can be found in the southern-most counties of Alabama and in the Fall-line Sandhills of central Alabama. Pine Lily occurs in open, wet Long-leaf or Slash pine flatwoods and savannas, in pitcher plant (Sarracenia) bogs, and in seeps. It is a perennial from a small ovoid bulb composed of a few overlapping scales. Each bulb produces a single upright unbranched stem 1-3 feet in height. The stem is yellowish-green in color and glabrous. Stem leaves are alternate or whorled, elliptic or linear in outline, entire, and glabrous. Usually only a few of the lower leaves are well developed, with the upper stem leaves greatly reduced in size and appressed to the stem. Flowers are terminal and solitary or rarely in 2-3 flowered umbels. The flower is erect, non-fragrant, orange or crimson in color, and has six distinctly clawed tepals. The nectar guides at the base of the tepals are yellow with maroon spots. The fruit is a capsule. Pine Lily has the largest flower of any North American lily and one of the largest among our native monocots. It is pollinated primarily by the Palamedes Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio palamedes). Pine Lily is dependent on fire to maintain its open, sunny habitat. Fire suppression, draining of wetlands, and deer browse have greatly decreased the abundance of this showy species. Pine Lily is sometimes available from wildflower nurseries. It requires a peat/sand soil mix similar to that used for bogs, constant moisture but not water-logged conditions, and full sun. It can be grown in a bog garden with plants requiring similar conditions such as pitcher plants and some orchids.- A. Diamond.

Named after English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) who wrote the first account of the biota of North America entitled: Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1729-1747). Walter originally published the epithet as "catesbaei" but the Botanical Code provides an avenue to correct the spelling that more closely matches the Latinized form of the honoree's name following proper conjugation rules. Thus the epithet has been corrected to "catesbyi" (Weakley and Poindexter 2020).--B.R. Keener

Native FAC+ (NWPL)

Weakley, A.S., and D.B. Poindexter. 2020. Previous and variable alterations of Mark Catesby’s name in honorific epithets are not sanctioned in the Code and are here (re)corrected, standardized, and simplified in Weakley, A.S., et al. 2020. Studies in the vascular flora of the southeastern Studies in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States. VI. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 14: 199-239.