Lilium pumilum is an Asian species of bulbous plants native to Mongolia, Siberia, the Russian Far East (Amur Krai, Primorye, Khabarovsk), Korea and northern China.Kharkevich, S.S. (ed.) (1987). Plantae Vasculares Orientalis Extremi Sovietici 2: 1-448. Nauka, Leningrad.Grubov, V.I. (2001). Key to the Vascular Plants of Mongolia 1: 1-411. Science Publishers, Inc. Enfield, USA. Plymouth, U.K.Malyschev L.I. & Peschkova, G.A. (eds.) (2001). Flora of Siberia 4: 1-238. Scientific Publishers, Inc., Enfield, Plymouth.
It is a stem-rooting bulb that grows up to high, though usually rather less. The bulb itself is deep and live from 2 to 4 years. The leaves are slender and grassy. It bears from one to twenty reflexed and nodding flowers, usually red in colour, and which may be spotted with black. The flowers are scented.Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 145 山丹 shan dan Lilium pumilum Redouté, Liliac. 7: t. 378. 1812.
Named pumilum (`poo`mill`um) for its small size, compared to other lilies
It may be short lived in cultivation, but tends to last longest in well-drained soils.European Garden Flora; vol. 1.M. Jefferson-Brown; Modern Lilies.
In Taiwan, both the flower and bulbs are used as food, as are the other related species: L. brownii var. viridulum, L. lancifolium and L. candidum.
References
External links Pacific Bulb Society Lilium Asiatic Section P-Z photos of several species