Pine Lily (Lilium catesbaei)

Lily Family (Liliaceae)
Pine lily is a perennial herb arising from a small bulb, growing to around 3 feet tall. The leaves are narrowly elliptic to linear, stalkless, and reduced and appressed to the stem upwards. The usually solitary, very large, terminal, odorless flower is orange to orange-red to sometimes pink with yellow and purple spots basally. The 3 petals and 3 sepals are undifferentiated and referred to as tepals. They are recurved and easily fall off. Flowers from July through October. It is pollinated primarily by the palamedes swallowtail (Papilio palamedes). The fruit is an oblong capsule. Found in the SE coastal plain, it occurs in frequently burned wet flatwoods, dry prairies, bogs, and seeps. Also known as Catesby lily, southern red lily, or leopard lily.

Listed as threatened by the state of Florida.

Copyright Brett Miley