lily,commonnamefortheLiliaceae,aplantfamilynumberingseveralthousandspeciesofasmanyas300genera,widelydistributedovertheearthandparticularlyabundantinwarmtemperateandtropicalregions.Mostspeciesareperennialherbscharacterizedbybulbs(orotherformsofenlargedundergroundstem)fromwhichgrowerectclustersofnarrow,grasslikeleavesorleafystems.Afewarewoodyandsomearesmalltrees.Evolutionally,thelilyfamilyisprobablythebasicmonocotyledonousstock,itsancestorshavinggivenrisetothemajorityofcontemporarymonocots,e.g.,theorchids,thepalms,theirisandamaryllisfamilies,andpossiblyalsothegrasses.Therelationshipsbetweenplantsofthemodernlilyfamilyarenotalwaysclear,andsomebotanistssubdividetheLiliaceaeintoseveralfamiliesor,iftheytakeabroaderviewofthefamily,includesomegroupssuchastheAgaveandAmaryllisfamilies.
ThegenusLiliumareherbaceousfloweringplantsnormallygrowingfrombulbs,comprisingagenusofabout110speciesinthelilyfamily,Liliaceae.Theyareimportantaslargeshowyfloweringgardenplants,andinliterature.Someofthebulbshavebeenconsumedbypeople.Thespeciesinthisgenusarethetruelilies,whileotherplantswithlilyinthecommonnamearerelatedtoothergroupsofplants.
Range
Liliesarenativetothenortherntemperateregions.TheirrangeintheOldWorldextendsacrossmuchofEurope,thenorthMediterranean,acrossmostofAsiatoJapan,southtotheNilgirimountainsinIndia,andsouthtothePhilippines.IntheNewWorldtheyextendfromsouthernCanadathroughmuchoftheUnitedStates.
Theyarecommonlyadaptedtoeitherwoodlandhabitats,oftenmontane,orsometimestograsslandhabitats.Afewcansurviveinmarshlandandasingleoneisknowntoliveasanepiphyte(L.arboricola).Ingeneraltheyprefermoderatelyacidicorlime-freesoils.
[edit]Botany
Lilium'Citronella'Liliesareleafystemmedherbs.Theyformnakedortunic-lessscalyundergroundbulbsfromwhichtheyoverwinter.InsomeNorthAmericanspeciesthebaseofthebulbdevelopsintorhizomes,onwhichnumeroussmallbulbsarefound.Somespeciesdevelopstolons.Veryfewspeciesformnearthesoilsurface.
Manyspeciesformstem-roots.Withthese,thebulbgrowsnaturallyatsomedepthinthesoil,andeachyearthenewstemputsoutadventitiousrootsabovethebulbasitemergesfromthesoil.Theserootsareinadditiontothebasalrootsthatdevelopatthebaseofthebulb.
Thelargeflowershavesixtepals,oftenfragrant,andcomeinarangeofcoloursrangingthroughwhites,yellows,oranges,pinks,redsandpurples.Markingsincludespots,brushstrokesandpicotees.