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| This beautiful species was discovered as late as 1946. Frank Kingdon Ward
found it growing in the far North East of India in the
Siroi Kashung Hills at an altitude of approximately 2500
metres. He sent back both seed and bulbs to England where
his material was grown on and eventually named for his
second wife, Jean Macklin.
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| Initially the plant was thought to be a species of Nomocharis but it was
eventually assigned to the genus Lilium.
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| Lilium mackliniae
is also known as the Siroi Lily and in the intervening
years since its discovery it has attained celebrity status
in its homeland. It is now the official State Flower of
Manipur and can even be found on postage stamps. Its
presence in the Siroi Hills has also catapulted that part
of the world into the tourist industry. It is still to be
found there, now growing in open scrubland and surrounded
by barbed wire as its sole means of protection. |
| For a
number of years it was presumed that the distribution of
this Lily was very restricted and that all of the plants
currently in cultivation had been derived from the
original introductions of Kingdon Ward. |
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| However, quite
recently, a number of differing forms of the species have
been discovered on one side or the other of the Nagaland/Myanmar
border. These include introductions by Dayal and Thomson
(LOO3), and also Susan Milliken (NAPE 049). None of these
introductions are considered distinctive enough to merit
sub-specific status.
Nevertheless a number of the variants
are being employed
in hybridisation programmes by Ian Christie, Margaret and
Henry Taylor, and probably others. Lilium 'Tantallon' is
one such hybrid which has recently been introduced by the
Taylors. It is quite likely that further 'endemic' forms
of Lilium mackliniae await discovery on other isolated
hilltops in the Nagaland / Myanmar region
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| In cultivation this Lily
happily grows in damp semi-shade and flowers in late
Spring or early Summer. It can produce up to eight flowers
per stem but both length of stem and number of flowers per
stem can vary considerably. Lilium mackliniae produces
copious amounts of seed which germinates readily and may flower
within four years. In fact, growing the plant from seed
rather than obtaining bulbs is considered to be the
preferred option by many growers given that, allegedly,
the species is susceptible to virus, although I have not
encountered this problem to date.
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