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Lilium

The genus '''''Lilium''''' are herbaceous flowering plants normally growing from bulbs. They comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family, Liliaceae. They are important as large showy flowering garden plants. 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 liles in the Old World extends across much of Europe, the north Mediterranean region, across most of Asia to Japan, south to the Nilgiris (mountains)|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 mountain|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 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. A few species form 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

Section Martagon

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 ''Lilium lancifolium|L. lancifolium'', ''L. pumilum'', and especially ''L. brownii'' (Chinese: wiktionary:百合|百合 wiktionary:干|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 frying|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''. Lilies are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Dun-bar|The Dun-bar.

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 Bulb#Bulbil|''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; Lily Seed Germination Types|seed germination patterns are variable and can be complex.

Names

The botanic name ''Lilium'' is the Latin form and is a Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean name. The Latin name is derived from the Greek language|Greek ''leirion'', which is generally assumed to be the Madonna lily.

References

- Taxonomical division in sections follows: Harold Comber, 1949. "A new classification of the genus Lilium." Lily Yearbook, Royal Hortic. Soc., London. 15:86-105.
- Taxonomy basically from: Govaerts, R. (2006). World Checklist of Liliaceae. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/ accessed 15 September 2006; 20:36 GMT
- Taxonomy of Section ''Pseudolirium'' from: Flora of North America, Vol. 26, Online
- Taxonomy of Section ''Liriotypus'' in consideration of: 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)
- Taxonomy of Chinese species (various sections): Flora of China, Vol. 24, Online
- Taxonomy of Section ''Archelirion'' in consideration of: Nishikawa Tomotaro, Okazaki Keiichi, Arakawa Katsuro, Nagamine Tsukasa: ''Phylogenetic Analysis of Section Sinomartagon in Genus Lilium Using Sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer Region in Nuclear Ribosomal DNA'', in: 育種学雑誌 Breeding science, Vol.51, No.1, pp. 39-46
- Taxonomy of Section ''Archelirion'' in consideration of: Nishikawa Tomotaro, Okazaki Keiichi, Nagamine Tsukasa: ''Phylogenetic Relationships among Lilium auratum Lindley, L. auratum var. platyphyllum Baker and L. rubellum Baker Based on Three Spacer Regions in Chloroplast DNA'', in: 育種学雑誌 Breeding science, Vol.52, No.3, pp. 207-213

Notes

Gallery

Image:Orange Lilium - Relic38 - Ontario Canada.JPG|Orange Lily showing stamens with pollen-covered anthers. Ontario, Canada. June 2002. Image:Lilium auratum - pollen.jpg|Pollen of ''Lilium auratum'' (Oriental Lily) Back-scattered electron microscope image Category:Lilium| Category:Root vegetables Category:Flowers Category:Garden plants simple:Lily

Related Images

- Lilium 'Citronella'
- Asiatic hybrid flower
- An emasculated ''Lilium'' Stargazer

Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL

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