I am hoping someone has an idea what this very tall trumpet lily might be. I've had it for many years and I believe it is a very well-known cultivar, and that if someone came up with "the name", I would recognize it: "Ah yes, I bought that one
back in... 1998!"

Thanks for suggestions!

Probably White Henry

It sure does look like White Henry. Lovely!

Apparently, then - White Henry is not just a white version of the orange species henrii? (A funny: spellcheck just changed henrii to "hernia"!) Back to topic - my henrii has just bloomed, while the lily I pictured on July 11, is long gone. Thank you Joe and Tracy for your help.

alwaysbehindMN said:Apparently, then - White Henry is not just a white version of the orange species henrii?

Correct. White Henryi is a hybrid between L. Henryi x L. Leucanthum var centifolium.

I could be wrong but I don't think this is White Henryi. I don't see enough dark markings/papillae and the tepals seem to wide. Looks like a backcross of White Henryi to a white trumpet?

Or one of those fake White Henryis like I have.

Link to White Henryi in the database:
Lily (Lilium x kewense 'White Henryi')

There should be prominent dark markings along the midvein in the gold zone.

My fake White Henryi:

Now that I have a name to refer to - I checked my lily book by Ed McRae. My lily does look identical (to my eyes) to a photo on p.301. His photo does not show any speckles (papillae?), nor does mine.
This lily forum is truly wonderful! My one and only try at exhibiting lilies is something I will never forget. I had entered a stem of 'Summit'. The night before Ed McRae had walked by and complemented me on my 'Summit'. The next day one of the judges said it "wasn't 'Summit' and it was thrown out of competition. I was annoyed, but not much. Mr. McRae's comment had put me on cloud 9 - if he said it was beautiful... that was all I needed!

So, would the real White Henryi please stand up and show us your face.....

Please?

They are not speckles but fine dark lines and I can see them in McRae's photo. Look at the bloom on the left and the petal at 7:00. They are there! The register describes the papillae (raised protrusions) as "minute". I'll look at my real one again in the morning.

Everyone, don't forget you can look up your lily in the Lily Register! The links are at the top of the Lily Forum. If you think your lily is an older one (pre 2007) then click on "2007 International Lily Register and Checklist". Use "Control F" to open the search function for the pdf.
If it isn't there then start searching the Supplements.

Perhaps there should be new categories or subcategories, cultivar name followed by -ish.
With the Dutch intros, I think maybe in round one you might have the original but after that it has high potential for knock offs, or similar in coloration but not the original. It's a strange business model for sure.

Linda that is such a nice story you included about Ed McRae.

My only point of reference is that I have purchased this lily twice from The Lily Garden. Judith is a trusted source who propagates her own stock from the original stock. You can see photos on her web site where she sells it. I buy lilies from a number of different sources but a lily like this I would only buy from TLG as there are many look a likes out there.

https://www.thelilygarden.com/...

There are a number of Aurelian strains sold as a name rather than a strain. Lady Alice is the one that comes to mind first when we talk about this. Most of the trumpets are strains (Pink Perfection, African Queen, etc.)

pardalinum said:Everyone, don't forget you can look up your lily in the Lily Register! The links are at the top of the Lily Forum. If you think your lily is an older one (pre 2007) then click on "2007 International Lily Register and Checklist". Use "Control F" to open the search function for the pdf.
If it isn't there then start searching the Supplements.

If you download all the PDF files into a folder you can use the advanced find feature and search all of them at once. I find this is very useful as I don't always know when or if a lily is registered.

It looks like mine is just like your fake one, Pard.
We had a big rainstorm last night...


The image in McRae's book does indeed have lots of dark markings (even more than Pard's fake), thanks to a very detailed photograph. Use a magnifying glass, Linda. I don't see anything different along the midrib, though. But as the registry says, the basal half of the tepals (the six petals) should have the dark markings on the minute papillae.

Eager to see another pic of the real one. There is likely some variation from year to year, too.

I agree with Patrick and retract my original lazy statement. Not sure but probably not white Henry. Mine was from the lily garden and has more dark marking and more bell shaped.

As a result of these various posts, I am tentatively thinking my trumpet lily may be 'White Henryi'. I already have an order with the Lily Garden for 5 OT lilies for this fall. I just emailed a request for 'White Henryi' to be added to my order. So next year I will be able to compare the flowers of my 20 year old lily with a new "definitely" White Henryi! That is, if it is still in stock this close to shipping season.

This is the area where I have 7 OT lilies, planted in fall 2015, and just past full bloom right now. So I will have 13 tall lilies there for future years! If you click on the photo it looks a lot better enlarged (a horizontal view with the lilies along the 40 ft. length of the branch which broke off my big maple tree in june, 2015. A work in progress with 200 red tulips, 7 newly planted peonies and 17 late season daylilies, plus the 7 OT lilies now in bloom... all an effort to have something in bloom all growing season!
Also in the photo, my prized decrepit toolshed which I just painted red to match its rusty tin roof!

That's a very pretty, relaxing scene, Linda.

Leftwood said:Eager to see another pic of the real one. There is likely some variation from year to year, too.

I grabbed a picture of my "old" 'White Henryi' that have been with me since 1999 but they look really bad as they got hit with frost and then botrytis. The flowers are small don't represent well what this normally looks like. I bought some more bulbs (from TLG) and planted them spring 2017 and they will bloom soon and I will get a picture of those as the look much healthier and more typical.

What struck me as the most off about Linda's photo was that the tepals looks too wide and not recurved enough. We also mentioned the markings & papillae.

Linda - your bed will be magnificent when you are done - looking very nice already. Even if your plant is not White Henryi - it is a beautiful plant and a keeper for sure. I actually like it better than the real White Henryi for looks

Can you guess the correct White Henryi?

The one on the right...

I find it very helpful to do as you did - snap the blooms off and lay them side by side and take a picture so that can be studied in more detail.