Fire Lily

Orange on top

The fire lily is an exotic-looking beauty with a maximum of four large, orange-yellow flowers. The plant is 30 to 90 centimetres high and grows from an egg-shaped bulb deep in the ground. It is a wild species that has unfortunately become very rare in the Netherlands.

This bulbous plant was once common in rye fields. Through the disappearance of rye fields, deep ploughing of the soil (that damages the bulb) and the suppression of arable weeds, the fire lily has become great rarity.

King-governor William III is pictured with a fire lily. The flower has become a political symbol in Northern Ireland (Orangeman's Day, 12th July) and is grown in many gardens in Protestant neighbourhoods.

Ecology and habitat

The fire lily occurs on rocky mountainsides in central Europe and the Alps but is a weed in fields in Oost-Nederland, Zuid-Limburg and in the north of Germany. It grows on sandy and loess soils – in fields, open places in woods and woodland fringes and on river dunes. In the past it was prevalent in Drenthe on the ‘eternal’ rye fields of the ‘essen’ (ancient fields located on higher ground - sandy soil). Shallow ploughing methods detached the small bulbils from the deeply buried bulb. If the ground was left fallow the bulbils could develop into large bulbs and after three years start to produce flowers. After 1970 there were only a few places left where it could be found. It was grown commercially as a garden plant until about 1950 when it became ousted by other cultivated lilies.

Threat

The fire lily has become very rare as a result of modern agricultural practices such as deeper ploughing and the use of chemical herbicides. In Gelderland, Groningen and Drenthe the fire lily has been reintroduced in field reserves.