Lilium pyi
H. Léveillé (1909)
(Bì shì bǎi hé 毕氏百合 / Py’s Lily)
Overview
Section: Sinomartagon
Origin: Western Yunnan (China), Binchuan County (Binchuan Xian)
Habitat: Unknown — type locality described generally as mountain region between Nieou-Ko-Chan and Pin-Tchouan (per Léveillé 1909)
Type: Probable montane or sub-alpine Sinomartagon lily
Status: Unclear species — no verified herbarium specimens seen by later authors (Flora of China Vol. 24)
Description (Flora of China, Vol. 24 p. 149)
- Stem 40–60 cm, slender.
- Leaves linear, 4–7 cm × 3–5 mm, arranged along the stem.
- Flower solitary, nodding.
- Tepals narrowly oblong-lanceolate, bearing dark reddish-brown spots restricted to the margins.
- Nectaries blackish, glabrous.
(Original reference: Léveillé, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 6: 263. 1909)
Taxonomic Notes
The species is described from a single early collection made in western Yunnan, and no type material has been re-examined by modern botanists.
Flora of China lists it explicitly as “an unclear species; no specimens have been seen by the present authors.”
Morphologically, L. pyi resembles the small, solitary-flowered Sinomartagon species such as L. concolor or L. callosum, but differs in its dark marginal spotting and blackish nectaries.
It may represent an aberrant local form of L. callosum or L. speciosum var. monadelphum, or a lost hybrid taxon described from incomplete material.
Until type specimens are located and sequenced, L. pyi remains a nominal or doubtful species within Sinomartagon.
Phylogenetic Context (Probable Placement)
┌── L. concolor
┌───────────┤
│ ├── L. callosum
│ └── L. pyi (uncertain / unverified)
Section
Sinomartagon ────────┤
│
├── L. davidii
├── L. lancifolium
└── L. leichtlinii
Remarks
Lilium pyi was published by the French missionary botanist H. Léveillé in 1909, honoring his field collector Jean Py.
The epithet commemorates Py’s extensive botanical work in Yunnan and Sichuan during the early twentieth century.
Given the lack of subsequent collections, it may have been based on a single anomalous specimen.
If rediscovered, L. pyi could represent a valuable missing link between the northern orange-flowered Sinomartagon lilies and southern Yunnan forms.
References
Léveillé, H. “Descriptions de Nouvelles Espèces du Genre Lilium.” Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 6 (1909): 263.
Flora of China, Vol. 24 (Liliaceae), p. 149. Missouri Botanical Garden & Harvard University Herbaria.
Comber, H. F. “A New Classification of the Genus Lilium.” The Lily Yearbook (RHS) 13 (1949): 86–105.
Gao, Y., et al. “Molecular Phylogeny of the Genus Lilium from ITS and matK Sequences.” Plant Systematics and Evolution 301 (2015): 1139–1152.
Duan, Y., et al. “Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Lilium.” Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 199 (2022): 323–341.