Dr. Robert Norman, Clinical Professor, Dermatology, Nova Southeastern University
What is the name of this flower?
a. Catesby’s lily
b. Pine lily
c. Leopard lily
d. Southern-red lily
e. All of the above
The pine lily (Lilium catesbaei) is a native of Florida and the coastal regions of the American Southeast and requires hot, wet, acidic soil including mesic to wet flatwoods, wet prairies, and savannas inhospitable to most other lily species. It is one of North America’s finest species of lily and produces the largest flowers of the genus on this continent. The pine lily goes by all the names in the question above.
The pine lily’s rarity may be relatively recent given that historical records indicate that it was once quite abundant in states like Florida. The pine lily appears to be very fickle in choosing its best habitat. Like other members of this genus, the pine lily emerges from a bulb after remaining underground in a dormant state. Some estimate that individual bulbs can remain dormant for upwards of five years before the right conditions for growth and flowering present themselves. Given that the underground storage structure is quite small, most pine lilies operate on marginal stores of energy.
Acquiring enough energy for growth and reproduction depends on a proper amount of sunlight. The pine lily lives in a region of North America that historically would have burned with some frequency. When a wildfire sweeps through an area, it burns away competing vegetation like saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and clears the ground of accumulated debris like sticks and leaves. Burning away the competition creates open areas where delicate plants like the pine lily can survive. Pine lilies produce more flowers and seed immediately following a ground-clearing burn. A subsequent decline in flowering and seed occurs as the surrounding vegetation begins to grow back.
The pine lily provides an important narrative for all fire-dependent ecosystems. In some communities, e.g., scrub, fire intervals tend to be relatively irregular. If disturbance from fire does not happen, biodiversity drops. The pine lily’s fate, as with other delicate and unique plants, is woven into the ecosystem of the coastal plains.
If you are lucky enough to see a pine lily, you will experience one of the most stunning flowers in all of North America. The six large, brightly colored petals face up to the sun and taper down into narrow tubes that produce nectar and attract numerous insect visitors such as the palamedes swallowtail butterfly (Papilio palamedes), one of the only species large enough to properly contact both anthers and stigma while feeding at the flowers and doing the task of pollinating.
Get out and look for them in the Great Florida Outdoors!
Dr. Norman is an advanced master naturalist graduate of the FMNP program from UF and a board-certified dermatologist based in Tampa and Riverview. He can be reached at 813-880-7546.