Lilies

Lilies are one of the most popular flowers in the UK, next only to the Rose. Globally, Lilies rank fourth among the flowers in popularity.

Different kinds of lilies are commonly grown in the gardens. Lilies are best suited for growing in flower and shrubbery borders and in pots.

Kingdom  Plantae

Division     Magnoliophyta

Class           Liliopsida

Order          Liliales

Family         Liliaceae

Genus        Lilium

Lilium, the genus, is the Latin form of the Greek word 'Lerion' for the Madonna Lily. Red lily was first described by the famous Swedish botanist Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) in 1753.

Facts about Lilies

• Lilies are one of the most beautiful, and graceful of all summer-blooming flowers.

• Lilies belong to the Lilium genus consisting of less than 100 known species, occurring in all parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

• Lilies are believed to have been under cultivation longer than any other ornamental flower, having existed in gardens 3,000 years ago. Floral designs, particularly of Lilies, made their appearance and became very popular in the 18th dynasty of Egypt.

What are True Lilies?

There are many kinds of flowers, which have been called "Lilies", but many of these so-called Lilies such as the day-lily, water-lily, and arum-lily, actually belong to other groups of flowering plants.

Plants in the Liliales grow from Bulbs, or Corms, both of which will store food over the winter or during the dry season. Unlike other Liliales, these vines produce their flowers in spherical clusters called Umbels, as in Bomarea.

True Lilies are composed of fleshy scales without a protective outer coating. True Lilies are never dormant.