Red, Wood, Flame, or Philadelphia Lily

_Lilium philadelphicum_

_Flowers_--Erect, tawny, or red-tinted outside; vermilion, or sometimes
reddish orange, and spotted with madder brown within; 1 to 5, on
separate peduncles, borne at the summit. Perianth of 6 distinct,
spreading, spatulate segments, each narrowed into a claw, and with a
nectar groove at its base; 6 stamens; 1 style, the club-shaped stigma
3-lobed. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. tall, from a bulb composed of narrow,
jointed, fleshy scales. _Leaves:_ In whorls of 3's to 8's, lance-shaped,
seated at intervals on the stem.

_Preferred Habitat_--Dry woods, sandy soil, borders, and thickets.

_Flowering Season_--June-July.

_Distribution_--Northern border of United States, westward to Ontario,
south to the Carolinas and West Virginia.

Erect, as if conscious of its striking beauty, this vivid lily lifts a
chalice that suggests a trap for catching sunbeams from fiery old Sol.
Defiant of his scorching rays in its dry habitat, it neither nods nor
droops even during prolonged drought; and yet many people confuse it
with the gracefully pendent, swaying bells of the yellow Canada Lily,
which will grow in a swamp rather than forego moisture. _La_, the Celtic
for white, from which the family derived its name, makes this
bright-hued flower blush to own it. Seedsmen, who export quantities of
our superb native lilies to Europe, supply bulbs so cheap that no one