LILIES - RHS Lily Group

The natural distribution of Lilium candidum is probably Greece (maybe
extending somewhat further north in the Balkan Peninsula), SW and S Anatolia,
Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (see pp. 25). It is found in macchie, phrygana and
on rock ledges, often on limestone and generally at altitudes of 100-1200m,
flowering in May and early June.
For several reports of Lilium candidum it is difficult to assess whether they
refer to native or naturalised plants. It is not unusual to see the species in the
outskirts of villages where it clearly subsists from former cultivation, but there
are also populations that appear to be wild. I have seen it on rock ledges rather
far from habitations, e.g., NW of the village of Driopi in NE Peloponnese and on
Mt Orliakas in northern Pindos. A large population grows in phrygana by Pirgos
Dirou in the Mani Peninsula (S Peloponnese), and there are also reports from
Monemvassia and Mt Arachneo. In north central and north western Greece there
appear to be native populations at least on Mt Vourinos, near Konitsa and near
Kastoria. Native status on the Aegean islands is more doubtful.
Lilium candidum is easily recognised on the large, snow-white flowers which
are generally borne 5-9 in a short raceme. The tepals are only slightly recurved.
Sfikas (Fisis 42: 31, 1988) has pointed out that cultivated Greek plants tend
to be taller and stouter than the wild ones with basal leaves appearing in the
autumn rather than in the spring. With such a long history of cultivation there
has undoubtedly been some selection, and a detailed study of variation in Greece
and elsewhere in the presumably native area would be of interest.
3. Lilium martagon
It cannot be established with certainty whether the Martagon Lily was known to
the ancient authors. In his book Paradisus Terrestris (1629) the London apothecary
John Parkinson undoubtedly refers to Lilium martagon when speaking about
“those kindes of Lillies, which carry diuers circles of greene leaues set together
at certaine distances, round about the stalke”. In Germany where the species
is native it was mentioned by Leonhart Fuchs (1542) and possibly earlier. In
Denmark and southern Sweden it is known in cultivation at least since the late
seventeeth century, having probably been introduced from central European
stock and now naturalised, sometimes in large quantity, in old parks around
mansion houses. In modern times it has become a well known garden plant with
several commercial varieties.
In Greece the distribution of Lilium martagon follows the mountains
southwards to Parnassos in Sterea Ellas (see pp. 24). This is part of a large total
range extending from Spain and France to western Siberia. In Greece it is a
species of somewhat damp, semi-shaded places in deciduous woods, bracken
thickets and meadows, generally between 700 and 1800 m, flowering from mid-
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