The Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum) is one of BC’s ‘day lilies’ – short flowering, and in the final days of its show-off phase now – spotted around Mosquito Lake early this week, typical habitat given tiger lilies are most likely to be found in open damp woods and meadows. (One of the favourite places seems to be the cleared swaths along highways, where trees have been removed, but there is low shrub cover.)
Tiger lily is truly a mountain plant growing best on well-drained slopes from sea level to over 1500 m.
Its flowers, seeds and bulbs are edible raw. The bulbs, according to Northern Bushcraft, are best boiled in several changes of water, and once cooked, can be dried whole or mashed and then dried for storage and used for flavouring. But if you do snack on them, you’ll be depriving butterflies and hummingbirds of their treat.
The Wellness Almanac 