Lilium

"Lily" redirects here.

"Lilies" redirects here.

Lilium
Lilium michiganense (Michigan lilies) Lilium michiganense (Michigan lilies)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Liliales Family: Liliaceae Genus: Lilium L.
Species
See text

The genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants normally growing from bulbs, comprising a genus of about 110 species in the lily family, Liliaceae. They are important as large showy flowering garden plants, and in literature. Some of the bulbs have been consumed by people. The species in this genus are the true lilies, while other plants with lily in the common name are related to other groups of plants.

Range

Lilies are native to the northern temperate regions. Their range in the Old World extends across much of Europe, the north Mediterranean, across most of Asia to Japan, south to the Nilgiri mountains in India, and south to the Philippines. In the New World they extend from southern Canada through much of the United States.

They are commonly adapted to either woodland habitats, often montane, or sometimes to grassland habitats. A few can survive in marshland and a single one is known to live as an epiphyte (L. arboricola). In general they prefer moderately acidic or lime-free soils.

Botany

Lilies are usually erect leafy stemmed herbs. The majority of species form naked or tunic-less scaly underground bulbs from which they overwinter. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. A few species form bulbs at or near the soil surface .

Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.

The large flowers have three petals along with three petal-like sepals, often fragrant, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, purples, bronze and even nearly black. Markings include spots, brush strokes and picotees.

The plants are summer flowering. Most species are deciduous, but Lilium candidum bears a basal rosette of leaves for much of the year. Flowers are formed at the top of a single erect stem, with leaves being borne at intervals up the stem.

Some species formerly included within this genus have now been placed in other genera. These include Cardiocrinum and Nomocharis.

Taxonomy

, , , , , ,

Section Martagon

	Lilium distichum
	Lilium hansonii
	Lilium martagon	Martagon or Turk's cap lily
120px	Lilium medeoloides
	Lilium tsingtauense
	Lilium debile

Section Pseudolirium

	Lilium bolanderi
	Lilium columbianum	Columbia Lily or Tiger Lily
	Lilium humboldtii	Humboldt's lily
	Lilium kelloggii
	Lilium rubescens
	Lilium washingtonianum	Washington Lily, Shasta Lily, or Mt. Hood Lily
	Lilium kelleyanum
	Lilium maritimum
	Lilium occidentale
	Lilium pardalinum	Panther or Leopard lily
	Lilium parryi
	Lilium parvum	Sierra tiger lily or Alpine lily
	Lilium canadense	Canada Lily or Meadow Lily
	Lilium puberulum
	Lilium grayi
	Lilium iridollae
	Lilium michiganense	Michigan Lily
	Lilium michauxii	Carolina Lily
	Lilium pyrophilum
120px	Lilium superbum	Swamp lily or American tiger lily
	Lilium catesbaei
	Lilium philadelphicum	Wood lily, Philadelphia lily or prairie lily

Section Liriotypus

	Lilium bulbiferum	Orange Lily or Fire Lily
	Lilium candidum	Madonna lily
	Lilium chalcedonicum
	Lilium kesselringianum
	Lilium ledebourii
	Lilium szovitsianum
	Lilium monadelphum
	Lilium pyrenaicum
	Lilium rhodopeum
	Lilium akkusianum
	Lilium carniolicum
	Lilium ciliatum
	Lilium pomponium	Turban lily
	Lilium ponticum
	Lilium jankae
	Lilium albanicum
	Lilium polyphyllum

Section Archelirion

	Lilium auratum	Golden rayed lily of Japan, or Goldband lily
	Lilium platyphyllum
	Lilium brownii
	Lilium japonicum
	Lilium nobilissimum
	Lilium rubellum
	Lilium speciosum	Japanese lily

Section Sinomartagon

	Lilium davidii
	Lilium duchartrei
	Lilium henryi	Tiger Lily or Henry's lily
	Lilium lancifolium	Tiger Lily
	Lilium lankongense
	Lilium leichtlinii
	Lilium papilliferum
	Lilium rosthornii
	Lilium amabile
	Lilium callosum
	Lilium cernuum
	Lilium concolor
	Lilium fargesii
	Lilium pumilum
	Lilium xanthellum
	Lilium amoenum
	Lilium bakerianum
	Lilium henrici
	Lilium lijiangense
	Lilium lophophorum
	Lilium mackliniae	Siroi Lily
	Lilium nanum
	Lilium nepalense
	Lilium oxypetalum
	Lilium paradoxum
	Lilium primulinum
	Lilium sempervivoideum
	Lilium sherriffiae
	Lilium souliei
	Lilium stewartianum
	Lilium taliense
	Lilium wardii
	Lilium arboricola
	Lilium anhuiense
	Lilium brevistylum
	Lilium habaense
	Lilium huidongense
	Lilium jinfushanense
	Lilium matangense
	Lilium pinifolium
	Lilium pyi
	Lilium saccatum
	Lilium tianschanicum
	Lilium poilanei
	Lilium floridum
	Lilium medogense

Section Leucolirion

	Lilium leucanthum
	Lilium puerense
	Lilium regale
	Lilium sargentiae
	Lilium sulphureum
	Lilium formosanum
	Lilium longiflorum	Easter Lily or November Lily
	Lilium philippinense
	Lilium wallichianum
	Lilium wenshanense

Section Daurolirion

	Lilium pensylvanicum
	Lilium maculatum

Uses

Many species are widely grown in the garden in temperate and sub-tropical regions. Sometimes they may also be grown as potted plants. A large number of ornamental hybrids have been developed. They can be used in herbaceous borders, woodland and shrub plantings, and as a patio plant.

Some lilies, especially Lilium longiflorum, as well as a few other hybrids, form important cut flower crops. These tend to be forced for particular markets; for instance, L. longiflorum for the Easter trade, when it may be called the Easter lily.

Lilium bulbs are starchy and edible as root vegetables, although bulbs of some species may be very bitter. The non-bitter bulbs of L. lancifolium, L. pumilum, and especially L. brownii (Chinese: 百合干; pinyin: bǎihé gān) are grown at large scale in China as a luxury or health food, most often sold in dry form. They are eaten especially in the summer, for their ability to reduce internal heat. They may be reconstituted and stir-fried, grated and used to thicken soup, or processed to extract starch. Their texture and taste draw comparison with the potato, although the individual bulb scales are much smaller.

Although they are believed to be safe for humans to eat, there are reports of nephrotoxicosis (kidney failure) in cats which have eaten some species of Lilium and Hemerocallis [1].

Lilies are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Dun-bar.

Classification of garden forms

Asiatic hybrid flower

Numerous forms are grown for the garden, and most of these are hybrids. They vary according to their parent species, and are classified in the following broad groups;

• Species (Division IX). All natural species and naturally occurring forms are included in this group.
• Asiatic hybrids (Division I). These are plants with medium sized, upright or outward facing flowers, mostly unscented. They are derived from central and East Asian species.
• Martagon hybrids (Division II). These are based on L. martagon and L. hansonii. The flowers are nodding, Turk's cap style (with the petals strongly recurved).
• Candidum hybrids (Division III). This includes hybrids of L. candidum with several other mostly European species.
• American hybrids (Division IV). These are mostly taller growing forms, originally derived from L. pardalinum. Many are clump-forming perennials with rhizomatous rootstocks.
• Longiflorum hybrids (Division V). These are cultivated forms of this species and its subspecies. They are most important as plants for cut flowers, and are less often grown in the garden than other hybrids.
• Trumpet lilies (Division VI), including Aurelian hybrids. This group includes hybrids of many Asiatic species, including L. regale and L. aurelianse. The flowers are trumpet shaped, facing outward or somewhat downward, and tend to be strongly fragrant, often especially night-fragrant.
• Oriental hybrids (Division VII). These are based on hybrids of L. auratum and L. speciosum, together with crossbreeds from several mainland Asiatic species. They are fragrant, and the flowers tend to be outward facing. Plants tend to be tall, and the flowers may be quite large. An example is Lilium "Stargazer".
• Other hybrids (Division VIII). Includes all other garden hybrids.

Propagation and growth

Liliums can be propagated in several ways;

• by division of the bulbs,
• by growing-on bulbils which are adventitious bulbs formed on the stem,
• by scaling, for which whole scales are detached from the bulb and planted to form a new bulb,
• by seed; seed germination patterns are variable and can be complex.

Names

The botanic name Lilium is the Latin form and is a Linnaean name. The Latin name is derived from the Greek leirion, which is generally assumed to be the Madonna lily. [2]

See also

Lily Seed Germination types

RHS Lily Group Seed Exchange [3]]

External links

• Flora Europaea: Lilium
• Flora of China: Lilium
• Flora of Nepal: Lilium species list
• Flora of North America: Lilium
• Online Lily Register, over 9400 entries Lilium
• de Florum: Lilium species
• North American Lily Society
• Royal Horticultural Society Lily Group
• [4] [5] [6] Time-lapse videos

Gallery

• 

  Orange Lily showing stamens with pollen-covered anthers. Ontario, Canada. June 2002.

• 

  Pollen of Lilium auratum (Oriental Lily) Back-scattered electron microscope image

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Lilium  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Lilium"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.