Last weekend we learned about a member of the Lily family called false hellebore. Today, a quiz.
All of these flowers have the word “lily” in their names but not all of them are in the Lily family (Lilieae). Can you point out the true lilies?
- Day lily, above
- Canada lily, below.
3. Cala lily
4. Trout lily.
5. Lily of the Valley
6. Bluebead lily (Clintonia)
Leave a comment with your answer. Later today I’ll put the answers in a comment of my own.
(photos by Kate St. John, Doug McGrady Creative Commons license on Flickr, and from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the captions to see the originals)
The answer is: “Anything in the genus Lilium is a true lily. They all grow from bulbs. Only Canada lily is a true lily in this batch.” says Master Gardener Dianne Maceshney.
Wikipedia says: The term “lily” has in the past been applied to numerous flowering plants, often with only superficial resemblance to the true lily, including water lily, fire lily, lily of the Nile, calla lily, trout lily, kaffir lily, cobra lily, lily of the valley, daylily, ginger lily, Amazon lily, leek lily, Peruvian lily, and others. All English translations of the Bible render the Hebrew sh?shan, sh?shan, sh?shann? as “lily”, but the “lily among the thorns” of Song of Solomon, for instance, may be the honeysuckle.
Canada Lily is a true Lily.
Day lily, Calla lily, trout lily, and Lily of the Valley are not.
I don’t know about Bluebead lily, but I guess they are not true lilies.
Yellow trout lily, Bluebead lily, and Canada lily are all in the liliaceae family. Day lily used to be, but got kicked out. Definitely not Calla or Lily of the valley.
What’s the definition of true lily?
Anything in the genus Lilium is a true lily. They all grow from bulbs. Only Canada lily is a true lily in this batch.
Answer: Among the comments above, Dianne Machesney & Tom Brown are right. The Canada Lily is the only true Lily. Trout Lily and Bluebead Lily are in the larger Lily family but are not true lilies.
only Calla lily is true lily, others are not.