"Lilies of all kinds, the flower-de-luce being one!" --William Shakespeare
The Winter's Tale
Apologies to you Will, but the symbol of France is no lily but instead a stylized iris. A lily by any other name might still be a lily though, right? Sorry, most definitely not. Many a flower, although welcome in the garden, masquerades under a
nom-de-plume. Common examples are Lily of the Valley (
Convallaria) and Daylily (
Hemerocallis).
True lilies all fall under
Lilium, the glorious true lily family. Depicted in friezes on the walls of the Minoan Palace in Knossos, Crete they have been cultivated from the earliest of civilized times. Common to the temperate northern hemisphere the large, frequently fragrant flowers attracted attention in antiquity.
The Madonna Lily,
Lilium candidum, native to from the Balkans to Middle East, early attracted the attention of gardeners so much so that it has become naturalized in France, Italy, and Ukraine. It became symbolic to Christians, especially Roman Catholics, and associated with Virgin Mary. Artists from medieval times onwards depicted her either holding its blooms or it grown nearby.
More recently the Easter Lily,
L. longiflorum, has been commercially raised by the millions to decorate churches and homes. The pots are almost invariably ditched afterwards, an unfortunate symptom of the use-and-throw-away society. Snip off the dead flowerheads and plant out in the garden, allowing the foliage to die back naturally. There is a fair chance they will flower there the following year.
Almost all other lilies will do the same: Asiatic hybrids, Oriental hybrids, Candidum hybrids, American hybrids, species, of those specialists like to divide into Divisions I--IX. The fly in the ointment, or in this case the obnoxious imported Scarlet Lily Beetle, may also feast on the buds and blooms.
Lily lovers may shudder, but the bulbs and flowers of several species have been used in China and Japan both culinary and medicinally. Such uncouth habits are known to have been shared with Taiwan and South Korea. Nor are First Nations off the hook:
Lilium canidense, the magnificent Canada Lily, was eaten by North American indigenous people.
Elsewhere, lilies have come to symbolize humility and devotion and so, doubtlessly with florists' encouragement, 30
th wedding anniversaries. On other less propitious occasions, white lilies at least are often associated with funerals.
Whatever the name though, if you are keeper of a cat, either eschew lilies or be prepared for a very sick pet. Both Easter and Madonna Lilies are known to have caused feline fatalities, others are suspect.
A few fakes and phonies:
- Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus officinale)
- Lily of the Incas (Astroemeria)
- Lily of the Valley (Convallaria)
- Trout Lily (Erythronium)
-
- Ginger Lily (Hedychium)
- Daylily (Hemerocallis)
- Lily of the Palace (Hippeastrum aulicum)
- Lily Turf (Liriope)
- Lily Tree (Magnolia denudata)
- Water Lily (Nymphaea)
- Wood Lily (Trillium)
