Blackberry Lily

(Belamcanda chinensis)

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis)

Alien: Native of Asia.

Identification: Flower yellow-orange, heavily spotted and streaked with dark red. Flower lilylike, with 6 petals, and stamens with elongate yellow anthers. Flowers arranged in a small terminal cluster. Fruit capsule irislike, containing a mass of black seeds. Leaves irislike, flattened, overlaping, elongate, tapering to the apex. Plant arising from a small bulb. Plant 1.5 to 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Most of eastern North America and the central Plains States except for New England.

Habitat: Blackberry Lily is found along roadsides, forest margins, and in thickets.

Flowering period: June to July.

Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis)

Similar Species:

The flowers resemble lilies more than they do irises. However the leaves and the seed capsule are typical of the family Iridaceae.

Similar Species

No Similar Species