FASCIATION IS A FAILURE

By Gilman Keasey, Corvallis, Oregon

A fasciated lily stem is failure of the natural tendency of the genus to produce a multiple of stems from a mature bulb. That is the conclusion of this writer after considerable observation; it is accepted by three other lily growers, two of whom are horticultural professionals and one of whom is a botanist.

The STANDARD COLLEGE DICTIONARY gives this definition of fasciation, pertaining to botany: "A malformation of plants characterized by an abnormal flattening of stems, or by the coalescence of several stems into one." Other dictionaries essentially concur. The word is from the Latin, "fascia," and a layer of tissue, meaning bundle. A fasciated lily stem, can therefore, be considered as two or more undifferentiated stems bound into one.

The fasciations that occur among the numerous plant forms of the world are rare and are intensely interesting. It is the great variation of forms this phenomenon takes in the genus Lilium that intrigues.

There is the single stem, usually thick and oval at the base, flattening and broadening, as it grows upward and with a multiple number of leaves and flower buds. Sometimes flower buds are absent or they may be so numerous and crowded that they do not develop. A branching type may have one to a dozen or more branches. If these are but two or three branches, they may flower to normal height and flower. If branches are numerous they usually begin close to the ground, are short and form a bushy plant heavily covered with leaves, but have few if any flowers. Or, a normal stem for nearly its entire height may become fluted at the beginning of the inflorescence and have an extra number peduncles and pedicles. If flowering is accomplished, the florets are smaller than normal due to the increased number. These are but three of the variations to be found.

I have long since come to the conclusion that in lilies the condition is temporary and lasts for only one season. Of the scores of fasciated plants I have observed during the many years of my interest in lilies, both in my own plantings and those of others, in not one have I observed the condition appear again the same plant?

It cannot be ruled out that some species, species clones, or hybrid clones may have greater tendency toward fasciation than others may. To determine this would require years of extensive and controlled experimentation. (Editor's note: The lilies with an elongated racemose inflorescence appear genetically most prone to this condition, for interruption to their cell division by frost or fungicidal heat/dips is more likely to result in a conspicuous fasciation. 'Edith Cecilia' and its progeny will do this with predictable regularity!)

Never have I seen a fasciation among immature plants, whether grown from seed or asexual propagation. This condition has been observed only when a lily plant has reached that stage of development at which time it begins to form multiple-nosed bulbs. Vigor dictates that more than one bud is to be formed within the bulb for the next year's stem growth, but if there is a failure in the formation of two or more distinct and separate buds and they are still bound together into one, the result would be the fasciated plant.

During the season of fasciated growth the bulb does not, in fact, form separate and distinct buds, each surrounded by scales, to form a distinctly multi-nosed bulb. The following year a normal stem emerges from each nose. There is no evidence of any pathogen or injury involved as the cause of these odd and interesting growths. They spring from perfectly healthy bulbs.

THE CAUSE OF FASCIATION AMONG LILIES? GOOD CULTURE! The better the culture the greater the possibility. My observations indicate there is a greater tendency for fasciation to occur among mature plants growing exceptionally well than among those that are not.

While it may be disappointing and disturbing to have such stems show up among one's prized lilies, it is no reason for great alarm and cause rouging and discarding. Subsequent years are quite sure to produce a multiple of normal stems. Don't be too disturbed.

Reprinted from Manitoba Regional Lily Society Newsletter, March 1987,
With permission from the North American Lily Society Bulletin, December 1986

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