I had an oriental lily bloom open today. 'Mona Lisa'. First I thought it was a little early for it to open, but then I looked inside. 2 blooms on 2 different stalks. Each one seems to have an extra petal inside, and the stamen looks weird. Don't know if it's because it isn't fully developed yet or what. @leftwood @magnolialover @roosterlorn thoughts?

Actually, as I recall (and I have grown this one) this is common with Mona Lisa. You will see it in some of our data base photos. Also, it is an early bloomer, unlike most Oriental lilies. Normal for this lily.

Lily (Lilium 'Mona Lisa')

Thank you Connie.

It is normal from the standpoint that you can expect to see this occasionally with some Oriental cultivars---especially newly planted ones, and especially Mona Lisa. Next year it should be more consistent if this is less than 1 year down. Those little petals in the center are referred to as 'petaloids'. Check out all the pictures in the data base and you'll see all the variations. I just read that next to Stargazer, Mona Lisa has been the most widely grown lily cultivar in the world.

I type slow, Connie.

Thanks Lorn. I planted these last year. They got up to 2 feet or so this year. So even the odd looking stamen is common with 'mona lisa' ? I would guess it's the second cultivated lily next to stargazer since resembles it maybe?

Yeah, some cultivars are more susceptible to these "growths" than others, but it's never normal unless it happens all of the time. It's certainly nothing to worry about. Sometimes stamens morph into petals (petaloids) or as in this case, try to morph. Often these petaloids are how double flowers are achieved. Or, sometimes extra petals just "grow". The cause for these one time anomalies is usually some fluke environmental trigger (many possibilities), and seldom repeats, except in susceptible cultivars.

One of my own martagon section hybrids had one of its flowers with nine petals this year. It's interesting because I have two siblings with similar genetics that both "malfunctioned" at exactly the same time. Sometimes these oddities can look nice, but usually they just look weird.