Lillies....Oh, my beautiful Lillies....

One of my favourite and beautiful plants that blooms in my potted garden is the Cardwell Lily (don't really know the derivation of the name) or the Northern Christmas Lily (as it usually flowers around Christmas). Locally, the plant is known as Pokok Bunga Sepenuh or by any other names and botanically, as Proiphys Amboinensis, named after the island of Ambiona, now known as Ambon in Indonesia. The plant also naturally can be found in the rainforest of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and mostly on the northern parts of Australia. Another similar plant to the Cardwell Lily is the Brisbane Lily or the Moreton Bay Lily (botanic name, Proiphys Cunninghamii) which was first discovered in abundance on the banks of Brisbane river, at Moreton Bay, Australia (I guessed that's where the name Brisbane Lily was derived).

The main visual differences between the Cardwell Lily and the Brisbane Lily are the leaves and the flowers. Though the leaves are both similar in shape, the leaves of the Cardwell Lily are slightly larger than the Brisbane Lily. The small white petals of the flowers of the Brisbane Lily are slightly rounded compared to the Cardwell Lily which are more narrow and longer.


The Cardwell Lily is an attractive perennial bulb plant with large beautiful, deeply-veined, heart-shaped glossy leaves which are produced on long petioles*. The Cardwell Lily is an easy plant to grow and make a good container plant.



The Cardwell Lily blooms are produced in an umbel*-like clusters of 5 or a maximum of 25 blooms on a long stem that can reach up to 50cm long. The small six-petaled white blooms with yellow stamens are lightly frangrant. Occasionally, fruits (last picture) will develop on the flower heads and often germinate on the plant ie. new plants can be grown from these.



The Cardwell Lily can be propagated from seeds or from separation of bulbs, where the latter is much preferred onto well-drained medium consisting of garden mixed soil with peat. The medium should always be kept moist but not wet and prefer a shaded location with filtered sunshine for the leaves to be glossy and healthy.




*petioles - leaf stalk

*umbel - umbrella like flower cluster with stalks of about equal length, springing from a common centre