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Lilium canadense L.
Canada Lily
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S2?
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: None
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 9
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Openings in rich woods
Perennial herb rising from a bulb, with smooth, often waxy, stems up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, unbranched except in the flower cluster. Leaves are 1.5 - 7 inches long and 0.4 - 1.4 inches wide (4 - 17.3 cm long, 1 - 3.6 cm wide), in whorls with 3 - 12 leaves per whorl; blades elliptic to slightly lance-shaped with pointed tips and roughened veins and margins. A branched flower cluster is held at the top of the stem with 1-many flowers on erect stalks that curve downward at the flower end. Flowers are bell-shaped and drooping, 1.8 - 3.5 inches (4.5 - 9 cm) across, with 6 red, orange, or yellow tepals (3 sepals + 3 petals) turned up at the tips, the center yellow with many maroon spots; flowers not fragrant. The 6 stamens are orange and dangling more or less straight down; they and the single orange pistil are just slightly, or not at all, visible when the flower is viewed from the side. Fruit is an oblong, 3-chambered capsule up to 2 inches long and 1 inch wide (3 - 5.2 cm long, 1.5 - 2.3 cm wide), containing many flat seeds.
Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum) is common in moist forests in Georgia’s mountains and infrequent throughout the rest of Georgia, including in bogs and wet stream flats in the Coastal Plain. Its tepals are strongly curved upwards and curled under at the tips, fully exposing the 6 spreading stamens (that have cream-colored filaments) and the pale green style.
Three other Lilium species are rare in Georgia:
Lilium michiganense (Michigan Lily) occurs in remnant wet prairies and calcareous flatwoods in northwest Georgia. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=15586
Lilium philadelphicum (Wood Lily) occurs in wet meadows over sandstone in northwest Georgia. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16274
Lilium pyrophilum (Pineland Lily) occurs in seeps on Altamaha Grit and in sunny openings in bayhead wetlands in the Coastal Plain. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=34948
Canada Lily occurs in woodland edges over sandstone, rich woods over limestone, and wooded edges of cedar limestone glades in northwest Georgia. Elsewhere in its range, Canada Lily occurs in wet meadows, edges of moist rich woods and forests, streamside flats, bogs, marshes, swamps, and ditches along wet roadsides.
Canada Lily is a perennial herb that reproduces sexually by seed as well as vegetatively by offsets from its bulbs. Canada Lily seeds germinate in the spring and produce a small bulb by the end of that first summer; the second year after germination, the bulb produces a single leaf; the next year, 2 - 3 leaves are produced; and the third year, a stem with a whorl of leaves is produced. Flowering occurs in 3 - 5 years. The flowers are pollinated mainly by ruby-throated hummingbirds and possibly by large butterflies whose wings pick up and deposit pollen as the insect probes for nectar at the base of the pistil. Cross-pollination is required for Canada Lily to produce viable seed. Its seeds are wind-dispersed. A number of moth caterpillars feed on Canada Lily, including Common Borer Moth (Papaipema nebris), Burdock Borer Moth (Papaipema cataphracta), Golden Borer Moth (Papaipema cerina), and Carrion Flower Moth (Acrolepiopsis incertella). Canada Lily may be threatened by the introduced Eurasian Lily Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) which feeds on lily leaves. Deer and rabbits also eat the leaves of Canada Lily, and voles, chipmunks, and wild hogs eat the bulbs.
Surveys are best conducted during flowering, June–July. A tentative distinction of non-flowering Canada Lily plants from Turk’s Cap Lily plants may be made by touching and looking at the leaf margins and the veins on the lower leaf surfaces. Canada Lily’s veins and margins are lined with tiny spicules and are therefore rough to the touch; Turk’s Cap veins and margins are smooth. However, an identification based on leaf traits should be confirmed during flowering time.
Georgia west to Nebraska and north to Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Canada Lily is threatened throughout its range by logging, limestone quarrying, use of herbicides in roadside maintenance, exotic pest plant invasion, and destruction and conversion of wooded habitats. Feral hog digging and browsing by deer are also serious threats in Georgia. Lily Leaf Beetle has become a problem in the northeast U.S. and may spread southward.
Canada Lily is ranked S2 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is “imperiled in Georgia because of rarity due to very restricted range, very few populations, steep declines, or other factors making it very vulnerable to extirpation from state.” Only four populations have been documented in Georgia. Canada Lily populations in Georgia and Alabama are the southernmost for this species. Protecting plants at the periphery of a species’ range is a high priority because of the likelihood that such populations contain genetic variations that may be of great importance to the species’ long-term survival.
Protect limestone glades from development and other disturbance. Protect mature forests and woodlands from clearcutting and other severe disturbances. Eradicate exotic pest plants especially Japanese Honeysuckle, Chinese Privet, and Nandina. Reduce the size of Georgia’s deer herd and eradicate wild hogs.
Bugguide. 2016. Lilioceris lilii - Lily Leaf Beetle. Entomology Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA. https://bugguide.net/node/view/20177
Drake, J. 2014. Lilies in the wild and in the garden. Breath O' Spring Publications, Inc., Suwannee, Georgia. https://tinyurl.com/wdupfbx
GADNR. 2019. About Georgia rare natural elements conservation data. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
GADNR. 2019. Element occurrence records for Lilium canadense. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
Heus, P. 2003. Propagation protocol for Canada Lily (Lilium canadense). Native Plants Journal 4(2): 107-109. http://npj.uwpress.org/content/4/2/107.short
Skinner, M.W. 2002. Species account for Lilium canadense. Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 26. http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Lilium_canadense
Hilty, J. 2019. Species account for Lilium canadense. Illinois Wildflowers. Accessed 13 November 2019. https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/canada_lily.htm
NatureServe. 2020. Species account for Lilium canadense. NatureServe Explore. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.160495/Lilium_canadense
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
Linda G. Chafin, 13 November 2019: original account
