The Benguet lily
Media
Part of Forestry Leaves
- Title
- The Benguet lily
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1953
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- The Benguet Lily ( Lilium Philippinenses Baker) By G. A. c. HERKLOTS Secretary of Colonial Agricultural Research, London This Lily is, I believe, confined to Luzon in the Philippine Islands. It grows in the Mountain Province, where it is known as the Benguet lily on account of its being most commonly found in the Benguet sub-province, and grows on either side of the Benguet trail" leading to Baguio, the mountain city. Baguio has been built amongst the pine woods, (Pinus insularis Endl.), at a height above sea level of 5,000 feet. Each road, or trail as they are locally known, leading to Baguio from the plains follows the course of the stream along the valley, finally ascending steeply, sometimes by zigzag route, to the plateau at the top. The Kennon Valley trail, which I know best, provides a wealth of seen.ery and a variety of plant life. At the bottom the flora is tropical but,. as the road mounts ever higher, it changes gradually to a more temperate form. The sides of ._.the valley towards the river's source are steep, often precipitous, and the hill tops bathed in clouds and periodically drenched with rain are sparsely or thickly covered with pine forest with an undergrowth of scattered shrubs and grass. It is in this perfectly drained but periodically soaked terrain that this lily grows. My recollection of this lily is that it grows best on the very steep grassy slope just below the pine clad summit, in fact in full sun except for the protection afforded by the short wiry grass. I do not remember ever having seen in the wild a stem with more than one flower and usually the stem is short and outwardly curving due to the weight ~f the single flower. Page 36 Last year I received from Mr. Florencio Tamesis, Director, of Forestry, Manila some bulbs of this lily which had been collected for me in November by the provincial forester at Baguio. These bulbs, which were of all sizes from 1 ~ inches high x 1-3/ 4 inches across, and individual scales were planted · out in pots and boxes and kept in a greenhouse for the winter. They grew and several produced flowering shoots; all these developed but a single flower, except one which bore three. The first bud of this three flowered stem opened on 29th J une--the photograph of the three open flowers was taken on 6th July. This particular shoot grew to a height of two feet three inches and dev- . eloped fifty-four long narrow grass-like leaves typical of a lily growing in full exposure and not ·in partial shade. The longest bud just before opening was 9-3/4 inches long by 1112 inches across. The flowers were very fragrant and pure white within when fully open, tinged with green on the outside towards the base. The long very narrow trumpt flaring out suddenly at the mouth is very characteristic of this species. Several of the inter-pollinated flowers have formed plump capsules so there should be plenty of seed. Perfect drainage seems to be essential for the successful cultivation in a pot of this beautiful lily. Recognition of forestry as a "course commonly taught in the high schools" of California has been requested in a petition by the Redwood Region Conservation Council. . · The Council also requested that the State designate forestry as a major subject in the requirements for general secondary credentials. FORESTRY LEAVES