Lilies

The genus Lilium belongs to the family Liliaceae, which comprises more than 200 genera of plants, including the familiar Asparagus, Agapanthus, Allium, Fritillaria, Hemerocallis, and Scilla. The genera most closely related to Lilium are Cardiocrinum, Fritillaria, and Nomocharis; indeed, several species have shuttled among these names over the course of botanical history.

The anatomy of the lily    Cultivation of the lilies Propagation of lilies  Pests and diseases    The lily species

Paintings on walls and on ceramics tell us that lilies have been popular for at least 35 centuries: the earliest illustrations we know of are those produced by the Minoan civilization on the Mediterranean island of Crete in the 15th century BC. The lilies depicted are Lilium candidum, whose popularity has been sustained to the present day. The Romans brought this lily with them across Europe to Britain where it became, in the Middle Ages, venerated as a sacred flower and associated with the Virgin Mary, thus acquiring its vernacular name of the Madonna lily. Towards the end of the 16th century it was supplemented by several of the other European species, in particular L. martagon, and by 1629 the first of the American lilies, L. canadense, the meadow lily, arrived in Europe from Canada.

By the 19th century, lilies were being introduced to Europe from the Far East, from China and Japan. Plant collecting had started in earnest during that century and continued into the 20th century, with new plants constantly being introduced. Surprisingly, one of the most popular of the lilies, L. regale, the regal lily, was not introduced into cultivation until 1903 when the well-known plant collector, E.H. Wilson, sent back bulbs from China.

All these introductions were species from the wild. It was not until the 19th century that the first European hybrids were seen. It is surprising since lilies have been in cultivation for so long that no hybrids had been produced earlier, although some were reputed to have been raised in Japan. A steady trickle of hybrids was created throughout the 19th century, increasing in number at the beginning of the 20th century. More interest was shown after the Second World War, and since then hundreds of hybrids have been created to satisfy the thirst of gardeners and lily fanciers throughout the world.

Lilies were not grown widely in North America until the end of the 19th century. By the early part of that century, native plants from the east coast, such as Lilium superbum, had been introduced into some gardens and four foreign lilies were being grown, including the ubiquitous L. martagon. By mid-century, plants were being introduced from the west coast and more foreign species were entering America. They were still relatively unusual in American gardens, compared with Europe, until towards the end of the century, when their popularity increased and their development in terms of new introductions and hybridization mirrored that in Europe.