Mother of Gardens
REGAL LILY
Lilium regale
In grand botanical garden beds and countless humbler household plots, regal lilies reign supreme. While ubiquitous today, the regal
lily's only natural habitat is a 30-mile stretch of rocky cliffs in a narrow
valley in the Hengduan Mountains. It is Wilson's most famous introduction, both
for its beauty and for nearly costing him his life. In 1910 a landslide
devastated Wilson's party as they were collecting hundreds of lily bulbs. A
falling rock shattered Wilson's leg and left him with what he later nicknamed
his "lily limp."