Kip’s Comments - July 28, 2023

Ditch Lily Rebuttal

Back on July 2 I shared an image and description of the ever-popular, colorful, widespread ditch lilies that were in full bloom. There I shared how the plant is not native to the Midwest and how we could consider the ditch lilies exotic/Invasive species if or when the plant spreads without control.

Today I want to provide information on one of Iowa’s orange-colored lilies that is native to North America - the Turk’s cap lily.

You can quickly identify the Turk’s cap lily by the way the petals are sharply bent and drawn back to the stem, rather than wide open like ditch lilies. Some Turk’s cap lilies will have a half-dozen or so blossoms while others boast a couple dozen or more pretty blossoms.

What I did not know until today was the toxicity of Turk’s cap lilies to cats. Following is a paragraph explaining the concern from Wikipedia (Wikipedia: Lilium superbum)

Cats

Cats are extremely sensitive to lily toxicity and ingestion is often fatal; households and gardens that are visited by cats are strongly advised against keeping this plant or placing dried flowers where a cat may brush against them and become dusted with pollen that they then consume while cleaning. Suspected cases require urgent veterinary attention. Rapid treatment with activated charcoal and/or induced vomiting can reduce the amount of toxin absorbed (this is time-sensitive so in some cases vets may advise doing it at home), and large amounts of fluid by IV can reduce damage to kidneys to increase the chances of survival.

Also described in the article is how the plant population is threatened in some areas of its range due to edibility. (Do your research before consuming!)

For comparison sake I will repost the image of the common non-native ditch lily. Notice the difference in the petals and coloration.

Ditch Lily - Image 829153