The genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family (Liliaceae) and are important as large showy flowering garden plants. Additionally, they are important culturally and in literature in much of the world.
Some species are sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs.
The species in this genus are the true lilies. Many other plants exist with "lily" in the common English name, some of which are quite unrelated to the true lilies.
Range
The range of lilies in the Old World extends across much of Europe, the north Mediterranean region, 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 epiphytes are known in southeast Asia (including L. arboricola ). In general they prefer moderately acidic or lime-free soils.
Botany
Lilies are leafy stemmed herbs. They 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. Most bulbs are deeply buried, but a few species form bulbs 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.
Most species are deciduous, but a few species ( Lilium candidum , Lilium catesbaei ) bear a basal rosette of leaves during dormancy.
Seeds ripen in late summer. They exhibit varying and sometimes complex germination patterns, many adapted to cool temperate climates.
The large flowers have six tepals, are often fragrant, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots, brush strokes and picotees. The plants are summer flowering.
Some species formerly included within this genus have now been placed in other genera. These include Cardiocrinum , Notholirion , Nomocharis and some Fritillaria .
Taxonomy
Taxonomical division in sections follows the classical division of Comber, species acceptance follows World Checklist of Liliaceae , the taxonomy of section Pseudolirium is from the Flora of North America, the taxonomy of Section Liriotypus is given in consideration of Resetnik et al. 2007 , the taxonomy of Chinese species (various sections) follows the Flora of China and the taxonomy of Section Archelirion follows Nishikawa et al. as does the taxonomy of Section Archelirion .
Section Martagon
Section Pseudolirium
Section Liriotypus
Section Archelirion
Section Sinomartagon
Section Leucolirion
Section Daurolirion
Section not specified
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.
Lilies are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Dun-bar.
Toxicology
Many varieties of lily are extremely toxic to cats, causing acute renal failure even in small amounts. This is particularly true in the case of Easter lily plants, though other Lilium and the related Hemerocallis can also cause the same symptoms.
Classification of garden forms
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; there are many seed germination patterns, which can be complex.
- by micropropagation techniques; commercial quantities of lilies are often propagated in vitro and then planted out to grow into salable sized plants.
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. The word was borrowed from Coptic (dial. Fayyumic) hleri , from standard hreri , from Demotic hrry , from Egyptian hrṛt "flower".
Gallery
See also
- Lily seed germination types
Notes
- ^ Harold Comber, 1949. "A new classification of the genus Lilium." Lily Yearbook, Royal Hortic. Soc., London. 15:86-105.
- ^ Govaerts, R. (2006). World Checklist of Liliaceae. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; accessed 15 September 2006; 20:36 GMT
- ^ Flora of North America, Vol. 26, Online
- ^ I. Resetnik, Z. Liber, Z. Satovic, P. Cigic, T. Nikolic: Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the Lilium carniolicum group (Liliaceae) based on nuclear ITS sequences , in: Plant Systematics and Evolution, 265: 45–58 (2007)
- ^ Flora of China, Vol. 24, eF
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