The Tiger Lily As A Healer

The Tiger Lily As A Healer

I’ve just driven past a sea of bright orange tiger lilies waving in the sun. They cluster along the roadsides in bunches and are just beautiful to see. When I was young, my mother would grow a patch, and we would have fried lily fritters as a side dish for dinner one night. Yes, you can eat them. You can eat the flowers, bulbs, and leaves. Remember, as with any new food, test with a small amount first to make sure you have no allergic reactions. The fritter flowers have a slightly sweet, tangy flavor that pairs perfectly with a crunchy batter. The bulbs are starchy and can be cooked like potatoes. The leaves and flowers can also be added to salads or cooked dishes. Not all lilies are edible, though. You need to ensure it's the Lilium lancifolium (the older name is Lilium tigrinum, but it’s the same plant). It is the striking orange lily with the black spots and recurved petals.

What I wasn’t aware of was that this interesting flower has also had a long history of use in medicine. While it does have this long history, it is crucial to consult with a healthcare professional before using them for any medicinal purpose, to make sure that it is right for you and doesn’t have any interactions with medicines you are already taking.

As an herb lover, I just adore learning what plants do and how they can be healing, so let’s delve into that a little. In traditional Chinese medicine, Tiger Lilies have been used for lung improvement and in banishing stress.  A tea or soup made from the plant helps relieve anxiety conditions. The bulbs are known for anti-inflammatory powers, are diuretic and helpful for coughs. Other uses have included being soothing for skin, helpful in strengthening eye health, being helpful for menstrual irregularities, and even in helping to ease heart conditions like angina pectoris and cardiac pain.

Yet it doesn’t end there. These flowers are used in homeopathic preparations, too. Homeopathic remedies are ones made from natural sources like plants, minerals, or animal products. These are diluted in water or alcohol and then shaken vigorously in a process called succussion. The final product is often so diluted that it may not contain any measurable amount of the original substance. Supporters believe these remedies stimulate the body’s natural healing processes are tailored to the individual’s physical, emotional, and mental state. This form of alternative medicine was developed by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 1700s. It’s based on the principle of “like cures like”—a substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person can treat similar symptoms in a sick person when diluted. At first glance, you may see a similarity between homeopathy and flower essences, but they are quite different. Flower essences, pioneered by Edward Bach in the 1930s, focus on emotional and spiritual healing. They’re believed to carry the vibrational energy of flowers to restore emotional balance. Homeopathy deals with physical plant extracts in highly diluted form, while flower essences deal with the more vibrational energy aspects of the plant. Herbal medicine differs from both in that it uses concentrated plant extracts to directly treat symptoms or support body systems, more in line with how conventional medicine works, but with natural ingredients.

Tiger lily homeopathic remedy has been used to treat emotional balance and women’s health. It is indicated for women with pelvic congestion and uterine discomfort, like the sensation of pain or heaviness in the pelvic region, painful or irregular menstrual periods, particularly if there is a lot of emotional upsets that accompany those symptoms. The homeopath will often use it for treating inner conflict between purity and desire, restlessness and anxiety, and if the patient has a deep fear that something terrible is about to happen, tied to guilt or moral distress.

If Tiger Lilies delight you as much as they do me, you will want to reward yourself by growing your own lovely, bright orange bunches of them…even if you don’t eat or use them as a remedy. I wouldn’t want to harvest any growing roadside for eating purposes. If you grow your own, you know they are free of pesticides and such. They are surprisingly easy to grow. They can take partial shade but need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Plan on planting them in early spring or late fall. Well-draining, slightly acidic soil is ideal. If your soil is heavy, mix in compost or sand to improve drainage. Plant bulbs about 6 inches deep and 12–18 inches apart. Place them with the roots down and the pointed end up. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Once established, they’re fairly drought tolerant. A layer of mulch helps retain moisture and keeps roots cool. Tiger lilies are hardy in USDA zones 3–9 and can bloom year after year with minimal fuss. Remove spent flowers to encourage more blooms and divide overcrowded bulbs in fall to keep them thriving.

This just goes to show that flowers can delight us with their color and fragrance, but there is so much more to them than that. I truly believe that every plant out there has some aspect of healing within its leaves, stems, flowers, and roots, if we are just aware of it. This is what makes the herbal journey an adventure. Happy adventuring!