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FYI Research: |
"If it hadn't been discovered, it might have withered away into oblivion without us even knowing it had been here," said Alan Weakley, curator of the University's Herbarium. He's referring to a rare new lily species now on display at the Herbarium. In its natural habitat, the lily is three feet tall and has striking orange or yellow-orange blooms, with six petals curling backward. Sounds as though this lily would be hard to miss. "There's no doubt the species has been around for thousands and thousands of years," said Weakley. But the "Sandhills lily" (so called because it has been found in sixteen counties in the Sandhills region of the Carolinas and Virginia) has only recently been established as a new species. At the Herbarium, a specimen of the Sandhills lily is dried and pinned in place, petals and leaves flattened and colors faded. An attached description from 1993 identifies the plant as an indefinite species of lily. Carol Ann McCormick, assistant curator at the Herbarium, explains that this is because botanists were unsure exactly where the flower belonged. "They knew it was a lily, and that it had affinities with Lilium iridollae," a species found along the Gulf coast, McCormick said. But the flower was seen infrequently, and seemed so similar to other types of lilies that it was assumed for years to be a variety of one of them. It wasn't until the mid-1990s that Mark Skinner, a National Plant Data Center botanist, and Bruce Sorrie, a Southern Pines botanist and Herbarium associate, began thoroughly to investigate the plant as they studied lily populations at Fort Bragg Army Base and other areas in the Sandhills. When Skinner and Sorrie compared the lily's physical features and habitat to those of other lilies, they discovered unique qualities. "We certainly became convinced that this was a new species," said Sorrie. Compared to Lilium superbum, the existing lily species most similar to it, the Sandhills lily bloomed later and had smaller flowers with slightly longer tubes and shorter, broader leaves. Because it thrived in seepage bogs in the longleaf pine ecosystem -- a habitat maintained by frequent fires--Skinner and Sorrie gave the new lily the scientific name Lilium pyrophilum, or "fire-loving lily." At the Herbarium, a card reading "Lilium pyrophilum M.W. Skinner and Sorrie" supersedes the older name below it. Sorrie and Skinner published their official description of the Sandhills lily in the botanical journal "Novon" in 2002. A few months ago, the species was incorporated into the newest volume of "The Flora of North America," and Weakley has also included it in his publication-in-progress, "Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia." Since there are only about 250 known individuals of the species, the Sandhills lily is difficult to find in its natural habitat--and the best populations are located at Fort Bragg and the Sandhills Gameland, places where public access is restricted. The Sandhills lily is a showy, attractive plant that may one day be used commercially in gardens, said Weakley, but because the lily is very rare, this will not be possible for several years. In the meantime, students, researchers and the general public can view pressed specimens of the lily at Carolina's Herbarium. A department of the North Carolina Botanical garden, the Herbarium is the largest collection of Southeastern flora in the world. The Garden and Herbarium share the mission of cataloging and conserving the Southeast's biodiversity, as well as educating the public and students about it. "The discovery of this new lily species is an example of our ongoing challenge," said Weakley. Skinner and Sorrie recommend that the "fire-loving lily" be protected and eventually classified as endangered--a lengthy process, Weakley said, which has not yet begun because the Sandhills lily is so newly identified. "It's a very rare species, so as soon as we've discovered it, we're concerned about conservation. This is another example of the urgency we feel to catalog and conserve North Carolina's rich natural heritage." |