I would say they are very close in colors. My Black Beauty seems to have more height at 4ft, a bit deeper red/pink color, more recurve back to the petals than plain Rubrum does. BB have just bloomed for the first time this year, so I don't have any other comparison years. Many of my old lilies had a hard time opening this season, tip of petals stuck together, not sure why.

I love both lilies, just some little differences. Black Beauty has a gentle scent, enjoyable, but not strong like my other lilies. I have to put my nose right in the flower to find it. I do enjoy the strong scent of lily wafting across the yard, teasing your nose in the breezes. BB is blooming now, about the last of the lilies in my garden. Nice to have such an extended season with them.

As Goodhors notes, Black Beauty is a deeper red than Speciosum rubrum. I also think the BB green center star stands out more - a deeper green sometimes almost edged in white. To my eye, the BB stamens are much more green, the SR stamens are essentially white. And, overall, the SR plant is a little more delicate (in appearance, not a delicate landscape plant) - the stems are more slender, the leaves and petals with not quite as much substance.

Also, as Goodhors says, impossible to not love them both.

- Steve

goodhors: I too, had lilies that were a long time opening--sticking together etc. I blamed it on our crazyy winter and spring. The first bud I picked and brought inside to speed up the opening process. 4 days later it opened half way, stamens were stuck to one of the petals, etc. They were newly planted last fall, so I do not know whether to blame the bulb or the weather!
Faye in MD

Here is a link for Scheepers Speciosum Rubrum. You can also look at Black Beauty there. To me, only the form is similar. The colours are vastly different. At first I thought maybe they mixed up the pictures but if you go back to the listing for heirloom lilies, they have pictures for Black Beauty (pretty close to what I have) and for speciosum album, which is much different.

goodhors - loved your plant descriptions. I agree re the scent wafting through the garden. I breathe in as much as I can so I can call on that memory to get through the winter.

I get some buds drying up when it is really dry or the plant is otherwise stressed (ie by lily beetles).

Here is a link that might be useful: Scheepers speciosum rubrum

In my mind and eyes, Black Beauty and speciosum var. rubrum cannot be mistaken for each other.

While Lilium speciosum var. rubrum is prominently spotted, and can vary in the shades of pink in the overall flower, none will be so dark as to be solidly colored dark red/maroon on any part of the petals, as Black Beauty is on most of every petal. Spotting on BB is very muted, and the green star is delineated from the maroon by a whitish border.

I really needed to hear that, leftwood. I agree, but hadn't done my homework on L. speciosum rubrum until this summer. I was wondering if I was missing something but the plants were probably just mislabelled.

Isn't the glistening green center star in BB beautiful?