Lilies from southwest China bloom in botanical gardens around the world

Glaciers, snow-capped peaks, streams, and river valleys.

Mountains stand tall, rivers flow, and life continues.

Rushing rivers of the Hengduan Mountains | Species Calendar

On the hillside, lilies are hanging their heads, and fat bumblebees are flying flexibly among the flowers. The filaments are connected to the center of the back of the anthers with their pointed tips, and the T-shaped golden anthers are trembling slightly in the wind.

Over the long years, many unique and beautiful creatures have thrived on this amazing and huge stage, the Hengduan Mountains in southwest China. However, for a long time, botanists knew very little about the plants and flowers distributed in the mountains of southwest China.

Beautiful lilies in bloom | Species Calendar

On March 1, 1869, Father Armand David (Chinese name Tan Weidao), a missionary and specimen collector at the Paris Museum of Natural History, arrived at Dengchigou in Muping (now Baoxing). On that day, he wrote in his diary: "I hope this strange and mysterious land can bring me surprises."

Father Tan Weidao using modern observation equipment (wrong) at the Dengchigou Catholic Church in Baoxing | Zhang Ying

New species of lily

In 1877, Adrien René Franchet, a botanist working at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, published a new species of Lilium, Lilium duchartrei (Baoxing Lily), in the "Bulletin of the Paris Museum of Natural History" based on specimens of Lilium collected by Tan Weidao in Dengchigou, Baoxing County, Hengduan Mountains in southwest China in 1869.

Scientific illustration of the Baoxing lily | Wikimedia Commons

The scientific name of Baoxing lily, duchartrei, is named after French botanist Pierre Etienne Duchartre, who is also the co-founder of the French Botanical Society. Duchartre had previously completed his academic work "Observations on Lily Bulbs". For this lily expert, Father Tan Weidao's gift from the far east was just right. From then on, this lily from Baoxing, China, had a botanical name - "Duchartrei Lilium".

"Give me a papaya, and I will repay you with a jade pendant." Also in 1877, Duchat published a paper named Lilium davidii (Sichuan lily) after Father Tan in the same issue of "Bulletin of the Paris Museum of Natural History" based on the specimens of another lily plant collected by Father Tan in Baoxing.

Sichuan lily | instrumaker / Flickr

Curly Lily

Lilium is a perennial herb with underground bulbs distributed in the northern temperate zone. Because the bulbs are made up of many scales, the Chinese call them lilies, which also means a happy marriage. The name of the flower is auspicious and festive, and the flowers are stunning. They are white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, and green. Different species are colorful, and some have spots, stripes, or borders.

Whether it is the shy pointed-petal lily or the Baoxing lily with purple spots and curled tepals, in July, all kinds of wonderful lilies are quietly blooming in the flower kingdom.

Baoxing lily tepals are rolled up and have many purple spots | Species Calendar

The beautiful and charming Baoxing lily always makes everyone who encounters it fall in love with it at first sight. July every year is the flowering season of Baoxing lily. During the flowering period, Baoxing lily will grow a flower stalk about 60-80 cm high, with scattered lanceolate emerald green leaves below. 10-12 flower buds grow in the middle and upper parts, and the white or pink drooping flowers open from the bottom to the top of the flower stalk. There are many purple spots on the inner side of the curled perianth, which looks like a playful little flower hat. The flowers have a pleasant fragrance.

Baoxing lily, photographed at Mount Balang | Species Calendar

Baoxing lilies live in southwest China, and are found in alpine meadows, forest edges or bushes at an altitude of 2,300-3,500 meters in Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and Gansu. They always look shy with their heads bowed. Both Baoxing lilies and Sichuan lilies are from the Lilium group. Most of the lilies in this group droop when they bloom, with the tepals curled back and the stamens open outwards, with a very exaggerated posture. In addition to the Lilium group, there are also lilies with huge trumpet-shaped flowers and bell-shaped flowers.

Baoxing lily introduced to Europe | instrumaker / Flickr

Plant Hunter Missionary

China is the global distribution center of Lilium species. Of the more than 90 known lily species in the world, more than one-third live in China.

Whether it is Franchet, the publisher of Baoxing Lily, or Duchat, the spokesperson of Baoxing Lily, they have never set foot in China in their entire lives, never truly encountered forest fairies like Baoxing Lily in the mountains, and never stopped to appreciate the elegance and fragrance of Chinese lily plants in the mountains. However, this did not affect their publication of countless exciting new species from southwestern China based on specimens.

River lily | Nicolas Gent / Flickr

Today, thanks to modern and convenient transportation, starting from Chengdu, driving west along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, passing through Mingshan, Ya'an, Lushan, and winding through the clouds and mist of the Baoxing River Canyon, you can reach Baoxing County, known as the "hometown of pandas", in a few hours. The ecological environment in many areas here is still well preserved, largely because the mountains in this area make visitors stay away. Therefore, more than a hundred years ago, for Tan Weidao, going from Chengdu to Baoxing was destined to be a difficult journey.

When Tan Weidao arrived at Dengchigou, Baoxing, he soon discovered that this was a treasure land that gave him endless surprises. Intoxicated by the elegance and fragrance of Baoxing lilies, Tan Weidao recorded new species and new discoveries one after another. Pandas, Sichuan golden monkeys, Davidia involucrata, and countless other magical species emerged from here and shocked the world.

Another lily from Sichuan, China - Lilium regale | Acabashi / Wikimedia Commons

The Baoxing lily, which was "discovered" at the same time as the giant panda, was named after Baoxing County, where the model specimen was collected. During the nearly four years of working in Dengchigou, the solitary Tan Weidao collected 13,000 animal and plant specimens, including 189 new animal and plant species, including Davidia involucrata, Buddleja macrophylla, Baoxing lily, Sichuan lily, Southwest anemone, as well as 13 species of rhododendron, 3 species of magnolia, 4 species of fir and 4 species of oak. Perhaps, the happiness gained from this continuous discovery and exploration is the most important reason why he has overcome all kinds of unimaginable difficulties and worked alone in this remote mountain area far away from modern civilization.

After Tan Weidao, British plant hunter Wilson followed in his footsteps and went deep into southwest China, eventually introducing Baoxing lily and many lily plants from the southwestern mountains to Western gardens. Today, Chinese lily flowers such as Baoxing lily, Sichuan lily, and Minjiang lily have become extremely popular ornamental flowers in botanical gardens and gardens around the world.

Lilium regale | JLPC / Wikimedia Common

In 1872, Tan Weidao was awarded the title of academician of the French Academy of Sciences. Many years later, he wrote the following words at his residence in France: "Life manifests itself in different forms, which is very useful and important for understanding the history of nature."