humboldtii

Species of lily endemic to California named after naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. It is native to the South High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, south Outer South Coast Ranges, and Southwestern California. It grows up to 8 feet tall, with flowers that are large and showy, golden-orange with dark red or maroon splotches and orange to brown stamens. The plant flowers in June, with flowers growing in a pyramidal flower cluster. The flowers are on stout stems, which are sometimes brown-purple. The subrhizomatous bulb is large, with yellowish-white scales, and grows very deep in the soil. The leaves grow in whorls, and are undulate, shiny, and oblance-shaped. It is summer-deciduous, dying back after flowering in mid- to late summer, and it should be allowed to go dry at that time. In winter it will do well with minimal supplemental water unless it is an especially dry winter.