Tiger lilies are on the prowl now. Some of these spectacular garden imports from Asia have gone wild and naturalized themselves in sunny areas here. (They’re reportedly called “tiger” lilies due to their orange color and small dark spots; last time I looked, orange tigers had stripes, not freckles. But I digress.)
Tiger lily flowers (Lilium lancifolium) look very similar to the orange, dark-spotted Turk’s cap lily flowers (Lilium superbum). The Turk’s cap plant is taller than the tiger and is native to the United States; however, apparently it’s uncommon (if not rare) in Maine. A quick way to distinguish the two similar plants is to look for black bulblets in the leaf axils. If they’re there, you’re looking at a tiger, not a turban, so to speak. Look closely at the leaf axils in this image:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on July 23, 2024.)