Have you ever noticed that where the lily is growing may not be exactly where you planted the bulb? The reason for this occurring is that while some lilies grow straight up from the lily bulb, others have a tendency to travel horizontally underground before emerging. Lily stems for the most part are green in colouration. This can vary from light green to dark green even in the same grouping, Stems can also be in the dark red to dark purple range. As stated before the length of the stems is dependent on the plants genetics, age, nutrient availability as well as other cultural factors for a given area. The height of any lily may vary from year to year, but it is usual for a lily to increase in its relative height as the bulb matures.

The Leaves

The leaves of lilies come in a number of forms and growing patterns. Lilium pumilum has narrow grass-like foliage. Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum has broad, lanceolate leaves. Lilium taliense produce stem that does not produce any leaves until it reaches about 12 inches above the soil.

Several North American lilies such as Lilium canadense and its various hybrids, as well as Lilium martagon and Lilium hansonii produce leaves in whorls around the stem with leafless gaps in between each whorl. Most others lilies species and hybrids have an alternating pattern going up the stem. Some keep a uniform size leaf as it moves up the stem and others have decreasing smaller leaves at the top of the stem.

The primary function of the leaves is to manufacture food by using the process of photosynthesis, where sunlight is converted to sugars (glucose) and stored in the bulb for the following seasons growth. For those who might be interested the formula for photosynthesis goes like this:

6CO2              +         6H2O   +           686                    ------>     C6H12O6&     +  6 O2

carbon dioxide            water         Kcalories (sunlight)                     glucose              oxygen

The leaves have secondary functions as well, they get rid of excess water through a process known as transpiration and they also respire just like animals do.

It is very important that the leaves of the lily plant be in good condition. More will be talked about that when we get to the pest and diseases section.

The Lily Flower

The inflorescence of the lilies can be either a raceme, an umbel or a single terminating flower. A raceme is a series of flower stalks or pedicels along the stem ending with one or more flowers. An umbel is a flowering pattern where all the flower stalks originate from one point on the stem.

The pedicel or flower stalk may be either branched or un-branched depending on the genetics and maturity of the lily plant. Larger Orienpet, Trumpet and Asiatic cultivars may branch into two to three or more buds. The blooms usually open in succession starting with the primary buds and moving through the secondary to finally the tertiary buds. This greatly increases not only the number of blooms but also increases the bloom time per plant.

A typical lily flower is composed of a number of various parts, each having its individual purpose.The outer part of the flower is called the Perianth, it is composed of three Sepals and three Petals. For the most part they are undifferentiated and look the same. The six are often called Tepals and usually have the same colours or patterns.

Lily flowers have six male reproductive parts or Stamens. The stamens consist of a long filament that holds the Anthers or pollen bearing organs away from the flower center. Holding the pollen away from the flower allows wind to aid in pollination of nearby plants, when insects or birds are not available. Lily pollen can come in a range of colours from soft yellow, orange, rusty brown to dark brown depending on the species or hybrids. The pollen colour adds to the over all beauty of the flower.

A word of warning about lily pollen! The pollen of lily plants is very difficult to get rid of if you get it on your skin and especially clothing. If you get it on your clothing do not immediately try to brush it off as that will just spread it out more. Take some tape and use the sticky side to pull up as much of it as possible as soon as you notice it. You should be able to get rid of most of the pollen while it is still sitting on the surface of your clothing. If you plan on cutting your lilies for bouquets in the house, cut off the anthers as soon as the flower opens enough to allow access to them. This prevents the pollen from getting into the house and staining furniture or counter tops. When you buy Lilies from a florist you will see they do this to the open flowers before you take them home.

The centre of the flower contains the female reproductive parts or Pistil. It is composed of three parts, the Ovary located at the base of the flower, this is where the seeds develop. The Style, which holds the stigma away from the flower centre. The Stigma, where the pollen settles. The stigma is three lobes and has a thick sticky liquid to hold the pollen in place for fertilization to occur.

At the base of each tepal is the Nectary Furrow, this is a groove in the tepal that leads to the nectaries below. Nectar is secreted by certain species and cultivars to attract birds or insects to help in pollination. Not all species or cultivars produce nectar.

The actual purpose of the Papillea is still a topic of debate and research so at this time I cannot give you a valid answer to the question.

Lilies come in a variety of colours and patterns. Colours can be various yellow, oranges, reds, pinks, whites and milticoloured. They can have  no spots, spots, brushmarks, splatters (tango varieties).

The one colour lilies do not come in is blue. It would have to be a real fluke of nature or some genetic resequencing by humans to create a blue lily. Black lilies are being achieved by crossing increasingly darker red varieties, whether true black can be achieved is still to be seen in the future.

The shape of the flower and its direction is one of the main characteristics of Lilies. The flowers can be down facing, side facing or upwards facing depending on the cultivar and division it is in.

There are a number of shapes that characterize lilies. The common flower shapes are Turk's Cap, Trumpet, Star, Bowl and Flat. Each shape has variations to the common shape. Some trumpets are more open, some have recurved tepals to varying degrees. The variety is almost endless.

Each species and cultivar can have any combination of colour, pattern, direction or flower shape. This makes for a huge variety of possibilities in your garden and in your hybridizing efforts.

For more information on Lilies please follow the links just below for pages on growing, propagating and insect pests and diseases.