(tri-cyr’tiss)

Common name: Toad Lily

Family: Liliaceae, Lily

Height x width: 1-3’ tall x 1-2’ wide

Growth habit: upright, open, arching stems; clumping to spreading depending on species

Growth rate: slow

Foliage: alternate, sometimes 2-ranked; 4-6" long, 1-2" wide; ovate to lanceolate; often clasping stems; stems often hairy; glossy, light green sometimes spotted darker

Flowers: very unique-- star or bell-shaped, tips opening outwards; 6 flower (perianth) segments (tepals--petals and sepals look alike), with outer 3 with basal bulges (nectaries); terminal, or more often in leaf axils; the 6 stamens and 3 styles form a prominent crown extending beyond the perianth; generally lilac with dark purple spots, or white or yellow in some species; generally fall

Hardiness: zones 4-9, varies with species

Soil: moist, high organic matter best

Light: shade, tolerates sun in cool climates where moist

Pests and Problems: slugs and snails occasionally on young growth

Landscape habit, uses: woodland or shade garden, near edges where unique but not showy flowers can be seen closely

Other interest: native to Far East; common name either from spotted flowers resembling toads, or to use in Phillipines by native tribes to run on hands as a frog attractant before collecting frogs; genus name from Greek words for three and convex, referring to shape of 3 outer tepals;

Other culture: grows taller in moist soils, shorter in drier

Propagation: spring division; seed stratified in cold and moist for 3 months unless sown fresh; may not come true from self-collected seed as species cross

Species:

• bakeri: latifolia
• formosana (four-mo-sah’nah)--Formosa Toad Lily, spreads by stolons and can form large clumps, 1-3’ tall, leaves not clasping stem, leaves spotted purplish; fall flowers terminal cymes, face upwards, white to pinkish, spotted purple, yellow tepal bases, white stigmas spotted red, long period of bloom; zones 6-9
• hirta (her’tah)-- Common Toad Lily, clumping, 2-3’ tall, leaves clasp stems, densely hairy/downey stems; fall flowers erect, funnel shaped, white with purple spots, purple stigmas, singly or in clusters in axils or terminal cymes; zones 4?-9, most commonly seen species and most cultivars listed under
• japonica:hirta
• latifolia (lat-i-fol’ee-ah)-- Broad-leaved Toad Lily, forming spreading clumps, 2-3’ tall, erect to arching and hairy stems, foliage not clasping stem, spotted purple when young; early to mid-summer flowers face upwards, trumpet or star shaped, in terminal cymes, yellow inside and greenish yellow outside, brown spotted, early; zones 5-9
• macrantha (mah-cran’thah)-- Tufted Toad Lily, 18-36" tall, leaves not clasping, dark green, on arching and drooping stems, coarse brown hairs; fall flowers bell-shaping and hanging in few-flowered clusters from leaf axils, deep yellow spotted reddish-brown inside; zones 8-9
• macranthopsis:macrantha subsp. macranthopsis
• macropoda (ma-crow-po’dah)-- Toad Lily, 2-3’, leaves not clasping stems, upright stems, spreading by stolons; fall flowers mostly terminal, mostly erect, lavender or white, outer petals curve outwards; zones 5-8
• obsumiensis (ob-sue-me-en’siss)--may be seen as flava subsp.obsumiensis, 18-24", clumps of erect or arching stems, pale green leaves marked darker, lower ones larger; fall flowers erect, bell-shaped, yellow with light brown spots inside; zones 6-9
• perfoliata (per-fol-ee-aa’tha)--Perfoliate Toad Lily, 18-24", clumps or spreading, arched to drooping stems, leaves perfoliate, long tapered; fall flowers solitary in leaf axils, yellow with red-purple spots inside
• stolonifera: formosana var. stolonifera

Cultivars, other: those marked * are more commonly seen; those listed as hybrid are of two or more species with parentage often unknown, many from Japan; even those listed as cultivars may be hybrids among species
 
 
 

Cultivar	species	flowers	other
‘Alba’	formosana	white, red spots
*’Alba’	hirta	greenish white, pink stamens
*’Amethystina’	formosana	purplish, white throat, red spots	early
‘Dark Beauty’	formosana	dark lavender purple
‘Golden Gleam’	hybrid	dark purple	lvs lime to gold
‘Hatatogisa’	hybrid	pale blue, purple dots	18"
‘Jasmin’	hybrid	white, purple spots, axillary
‘Kohaku’	hybrid	white, spotted, yellowish throat	3’, arching
‘Lemon Lime’	hybrid	lilac	lvs yellows, bands
‘Lilac Towers’	hirta	white, lilac spots
*’Miyazaki’	hirta	pink to white, red spots, axillary
‘Miyazaki Gold’	hirta	like above	lvs gold edged
‘Seiryu’	hybrid	like ‘Amethystina’	vigorous
‘Shirohototgisu’	hybrid	white	2-3’
‘Sinonome’	hybrid	white, purple spots	stoloniferous
subsp. macranthopsis	macrantha	yellow, axillary	1-2’
‘Togon’	hybrid	lavender, terminal	2-3’, large leaves
‘Tojen’	hybrid	lavender, white throats
‘Variegata’	formosana	lavender, terminal	lvs yellow margin
‘Variegata’	hirta	lavender	lvs gold edged
var. albescens	hirta	white
*var. stolonifera	formosana	pale pink, pale spots	42" tall
‘White Flame’	hybrid	lavender, spotted	lvs variegated
‘White Towers’	hirta	pure white, axillary	3’, vigorous

(photos courtesy Missouri botanical gardens plantfinder)

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