People say an upturned pistil indicates pollination, but I wonder.....
I guess not a lot of you protect the stigma from contamination before pollinating, but most of the time, I do. Usually, I do my actual pollination the next day or sometimes two days after. Occasionally, I'll forget that I had covered a stigma of such and such lily, and not realize it until three or four days later. Usually, these pistils have turned upward, despite them still not being pollinated. I haven't done any trumpet hybridizing for years; perhaps the phenomenon holds true for only certain types of lilies. But can anyone verify that unpollinated lily pistils always remain straight(ish)? In other words, have you actually taken note: this lily pistil did not upturn
and did not produce a pod?
Or, can anyone verify that every upturned pistil
always produces a pod?
These are two examples of two day old flowers, ready to be pollinated, but the deed is not done yet.
Lilium leichtlinii x L. maculatum var. wilsonii, and Lilium 'Sarabande'
Sarabande did get a bit of its own pollen dabbed prior to protection. Yet another variable to consider.
L. formosanum/philippinense was famous for this in my garden. I would peel open a bud, and there would already be ripe pollen there.
I've been doing some apomixis and self pollination testing, too. I wish I had thought to record the pistil position.
But I will say this: I have never had Lilium distichum produce a pod of any kind, ever. This is what one looks like this year. Every pistil is turned up and we will see what happens in the weeks to come.
