Easter Lily

Overview

Native to southern Japan, Taiwan, Philippines. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. It is grown as an ornamental, valued especially for its very fragrant flowers.

Vernacular Names

Tepoyun (Japanese), She xiang bai he (Chinese), Lis blanc (French), Acucena (Portuguese), Langbluetige Lilie (German).

Agroecology

Found at elevations up to 500 m in Taiwan. Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun. 

Morphology

• Rhizome - rounded, 2.5 - 5 cm in diameter.
• Stems - erect, unbranched, green.
• Leaves - alternate, simple, sessile, linear-lanceolate, up to 15 cm long.
• Flowers - trumpet-shaped, fragrant and conspicuous, the corolla is white with a light purple stripe on the outside, the pollen is yellow.
• Fruits - box shape, has a thin skin, inverted oval shape, splits into two when ripe, seeds 1-5
• Seeds - large, flattened round shape, the seed coat is coated with mucus.

Cultivation

• Propagated by seeds - immediate epigeal germination.
• By division.

Chemical Constituents

Steroid glycosides, polyphenols, saponins, steroids, alkaloids, kaempferol, kaempferol glycosides, quercetin glycosides, regaloside, a chalcone and fatty acid fraction, a new steroid acetate glycoalkaloid and two new steroidal furostanol saponins.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The bulb is antiasthmatic, antitussive, expectorant, sedative and tonic (nutritive).
• Used in the treatment of coughs, haemoptysis, insomnia and fidgetiness in the later stage of febrile disease.