Toad Lily: April's Flower of the Month
About the Toad Lily
Once upon a time, an orchid and a lily got together to make the most stunning flower yet, the toad lily. The toad lily blooms later in the summer with gorgeous flowers that can last late into the fall. And it isn't actually a blend of orchid and lily...It tolerates, shade, cold, drought, and is a considerably hardy plant in the world of exotics.
Tricyrtis is a genus in the lily family (Lilaceae) commonly called toad lilies. The name tricyrtis comes from the Greek "tri" (three) and "kyrtos" (swelling, arched, or bulging) which refers to the 3 sack-like nectaries at the base of the sepals.
The Toad lily is naturally found along woodland edges and shaded rocks in Eastern Asia. It is native to nearly all parts of Asia and has been grown for at least 300 years - but more on that later. With 22 species and counting, this plant is no longer a botanical curiosity and can be found in most garden centers and nurseries.
History of the Toad Lily
Before 1784, the history of the toad lily in Asia is quite cloudy. A large number of cultivators suggest it was a popular garden plant for centuries, but the first European documentation was a Swedish surgeon and botanist, Carl Peter Thunberg, who documented the plant in mid 1776. He was known for publishing influential botanical books in Japan after his expeditions, but he didn’t collect or bring any samples of the toad lily to cultivate.
Sixty four years later, after many other people “rediscovered” the plant, Joseph Dalton (another famous British botanist) harvested some seeds to send to his father who directed the Kew Gardens in England. That was the first ever account of the plant growing in Europe.
In 1881, the genus Tricyrtis was rarely cultivated and generally lived in collectors’ gardens. But in 1890, it moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and thus began spreading all over the place as it could withstand harsher climates. Botanists have discovered and published descriptions of 22 tricyrtis species over the 225 years since Thunberg's discovery. The latest species (Tricyrtis ravenii) was described only in 2007.
Before the mid-1990's, the toad lily was under-appreciated in the US, if I do say so myself. But in the mid 90's, tricyrtis experienced a surge in popularity due in part to a decade long toad lily evaluation program run by the Chicago Botanic Garden, and perhaps because of the scandal we’ll be hitting on next.
Scandal of the Toad Lily
There is an infamous and completely false story that pops up every time you search for these flowers. It was long believed that tricyrtis is called toad lily because an old Filipino tribe utilized the plant for special properties. They were called the Tasaday, and they relied on frogs for a substantial portion of their diet.
They would coat their hands in the sticky, smelly juice of the toad lily before going frog hunting. The smell would attract the frogs, while the stickiness would help keep them from slipping away when caught. This was all false and part of the grater Tasaday Hoax, an excellent rabbit hole to hop down but I’ll give you the synopsis for now. The Tasaday were a tribe that were made famous in the 1970s because of an intricate plot devised by Manuel Elizalde, an advisor to president Ferdinand Marcos, to increase eco-tourism to the Philippines. The goal was to exaggerate the dramatics around the tribe in order to gain funding from philanthropists. This fascinating story was first told in the 1970s National Geographic documentary “The Last Tribes in Mindanao” and the hoax was unearthed in 1986 in the documentary “The Tribe that Never Was.” The story of the toad lily was a small piece to the puzzle, but still a surprising connection to find!
Fun Facts:
Toad lilies can be easily propagated through stem cuttings or division! Though they’ll self seed just fine too :)
The hairy toad lily is completely covered in teensy translucent hairs
The Japanese have a prettier common name for toad lilies: hototogiso, which translates to "little cuckoo", a shy but cute forest dwelling bird.
Lilies are often given as a symbol of devotion for 30th wedding anniversaries, that includes toad lilies!
Toad lilies are excellent stowaways. Their hardy seeds can get carried into gardens through other plants and nurseries. I’d consider myself super lucky to get a stowaway toad lily!
So there you have it! Now when you’re inevitably asked “what the heck is a toad lily?” you’ll have lots of answers. Thanks for joining this month, I hope you enjoyed learning about these lovely flowers!
Checkout these sources for more information!
https://caroljmichel.com/the-legend-of-toad-lily/https://www.plantdelights.com/blogs/articles/tricyrtis-toad-lily-bulbs-hirta?srsltid=AfmBOooNhMbkt58tFCMM4nH-Iq2MyYbPv6B2VZghRGW1FOArlrK-okc0https://www.picturethisai.com/wiki/Tricyrtis_hirta.htmlhttps://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/hairy-toad-lily-tricyrtis-hirta/https://renaissancegardenguy.com/what-the-hell-is-a-toad-lily/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-6