Lilium Apertum

Formerly placed in Nomocharis, Lilium apertum is a refined high-mountain lily from south-western China, Tibet and northern Myanmar. Slender stems carry one or more open, shallowly bowl-shaped flowers in rose or clear pink, each marked at the base by a deep maroon blotch and scattered crimson spots. The broad tepals spread rather than forming a conventional trumpet, giving the flowers an almost orchid-like character. It inhabits bamboo scrub, alpine grassland and cool forest at high elevation and demands humus-rich acidic soil, light shade and constant summer freshness.