Wood lily is an herbaceous perennial wildflower in the Liliaceae family native to eastern and midwestern North America. It can be found in the mountains of NC in dry woods, meadows and prairies and is one of the most widespread lilies in North America. The species epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek terms phílos (“beloved”) and adelphós (“brother”) and alludes to the physical closeness of the stamens in the flower, which are held tightly around the style. This plant prefers well-drained sandy to loam soils in full sun to partial shade. The best blooming is in full sun. Plant in early spring or fall to a depth twice that of the bulb. The upward-facing orange to red and rarely yellow blooms have yellow at the base of each tepal and scattered reddish-brown dots. They are 2 to 3 inches across, occur up to 3 flowers per stem and bloom in early to midsummer. This flower color and size vary widely depending on source population. Use in the native pollinator or butterfly garden, in small groups, in meadows or other naturalized areas. They can be slow to establish and do best in cool summer areas. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Bulb rot will occur in too-wet soils. Watch for lily aphids, purple-spotted lily aphids, borer moth, slugs and snails and bulb mites. Deer will browse the plant and voles will eat the bulbs. VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Edibles, Bulbs, and Houseplants," a plant identification course developed in partnership with Longwood Gardens. More information on Lilium .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 4 ft. 0 in. | Width: 0 ft. 8 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Slow
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate; Whorled
Leaf shape
Elliptical; Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leaves are narrow elliptic to linear, stalkless with pointed tips and parallel veins. Surfaces are smooth and the underside is paler in color. Leaves are alternate with at least 1 whorl of 3-6 near the top of the stem. They are2-4 inches long and 1/2 to 1 inch wide.
1-3 inch orange to red flowers are held upward in groups of 1-3. The flowers have yellow and speckles near the base of each tepal. 6 long stamens with maroon anthers in the center. Blooms early to mid-summer for up to 5 weeks.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
A 3-chambered capsule containing hundreds of wafer-thin disc-shaped seeds in fall.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Round green smooth unbranched stems to 4 feet tall.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern to mid-western North America
Distribution
CO , IA , IL , IN , KY , MI , MN , MT , ND , NE , NM , OH , SD , TX , WI , WY Canada: BC , SK
Wildlife value
Flowers attract butterflies. Plants are browsed by deer and rabbits.
Attracts
Butterflies; Pollinators; Small Mammals; Songbirds
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Problems & Resistance
Insect problems
Bulb Mites; Slugs and Snails Found on Flowers and Foliage; Aphids Found on Flowers and Foliage; Potato Aphid on Ornamental Plants; Narcissus Bulb Fly; Crescent-marked Lily Aphid; Purplespotted Lily Aphid