In the simplest sense, a hybrid is the offspring of two different species. Most plants are capable of producing hybrids naturally when their ranges cross. These such hybrids are rare in the wild and are infrequent in the Genus lilium. One example of a naturally occurring hybrid is Lilium pitkinense. When liliums from different regions are introduced in the garden however, hybrids occur readily, whether by birds and insects or by the deliberate act of the hybridizer.

 

Seed-raising is commonly regarded as a slow and tiresome, but it is strongly recommended because;-

1.  it is the cheapest method of raising a large stock;
2. it ensures that the plants start free from those virus diseases, that often afflict imported bulbs;
3. it furthers acclimatization;
4. it gives a vigorous stock, as bulbs so raised need not suffer drying or loss of their basal roots;
5. it enables certain lilies such as L. formosanum to be treated as annuals;
6. it is necessary for maintaining a stock of short-lived species like L. pumilum;
7. it provides the only road to hybridization.

Moreover, raising most lilies from seed is no more difficult or tedious than raising other herbaceous perennials from seed.

When grown from seed, L. concolor, L. davidi var. willmottiae, L. leichtlinii var. maximowiczii, L. pumilum, L. regale and L. wardii, will often bloom within two years; L. philippinense and L. formosanum, sown in February will usually flower the same year and certainly within eighteen months; L. longiflorum can flowered in six months from seed.

 

The Genus Lilium consists of approximately 100 species distributed throughout the cold and temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The wild species are the ancestors from which the modern garden liliums of today have been selected and hybridized from. In addition, many of the true species remain popular in our gardens today, including Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum,  Lilium candidum,  Lilium henryi,  Lilium leucanthum var. centifolium, Lilium paradalinum,  Lilium pumilum,  Lilium regale, and  Lilium speciosum var. rubrum. Other species are grown by connoisseurs because they have a special natural beauty that no modern hybrids possess.

It is common misconception that species liliums are more difficult to grow than the hybrids, but this is not necessarily true. It is important to remember that these plants have survived through millennia of climatic changes, natural disasters, diseases, and pests, during which the process of natural selection has eliminated the weaker forms. Some species, such as Lilium martagon and Lilium pumilum, grow over vast areas in widely differing environments, so it is not surprising that they adapt well to gardens in many regions.