Lily Family

Liliaceae (Lil-ee-AY-see-ee)

Iconic Features

• Generally grow from bulbs
• Leaves usually smooth-edged blades with parallel veins
• Usually large flowers with 6 colored tepals

Description (Jepson)

• Monocotyledons (monocots) – monocots are a major lineage of flowering, mostly herbaceous plants, generally characterized by
  • Single seed leaf (cotyledon)
  • Linear or oblong leaves with parallel venation
  • Flower parts in threes
  • Pollen grains with a single pore
  • Vascular bundles scattered in stem
  • Fibrous root system
• Perennial herbs
• Geophytes (plants with underground storage organs)
  • Grow from bulbs (short underground stems with fleshy leaves, e.g. onions) or occasionally from rhizomes (horizontal underground stems)
• Leaves
  • Basal or along the stem (cauline)
  • Alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem) or whorled (3 or more leaves/flowers at each junction with stem)
  • Simple (not divided into leaflets) and entire (with smooth edges)
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) in small groups or single flower
  • Bisexual, radially-symmetric, usually large flowers
    • 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals
      • Usually colorful and often patterned
    • Usually 6 stamens, sometimes 3
  • Provide nectar for insect pollinators
  • Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit a many-seeded capsule (a dry, multi-chambered fruit that splits open), which is wind-dispersed, or a berry (a usually multi-seeded fruit with a fleshy ovary wall), dispersed by animals

Notes

• Approximately 630 species, mainly in northern temperate regions (Jepson)
  • Species count varies widely as the treatment of this family is highly unsettled
  • Includes fritillaries, mariposa lilies, leopard lilies, and many cultivated ornamentals, including daylilies, tulips, and hyacinths
• Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or enlarged taproots) are well adapted to survive fire, our Mediterranean climate’s long, dry summers, and extended droughts
  • Above-ground growth dies back after flowering, while underground the plant survives with stored water and nutrients
• In addition to a fibrous root system that takes in water and nutrients, many members of the Lily family have contractile roots
  • Contractile roots adjust the depth of the bulb or corm in the soil by expanding and then contracting, pulling the bulb downward
• Deer heavily browse many species
• Native people harvested many Lily species and other edible geophytes (Anderson 2005)
  • Bulbs were boiled, steamed, roasted, or baked in earthen ovens
  • Plants were actively managed
    • Hardwood sticks were used for digging
    • Some plants were spared to allow future crops
    • Bulblets were dispersed and replanted
    • Areas were burned to decrease competition and recycle nutrients
• CAUTION – some species are toxic, e.g. Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) and some Fritillaria species
  • Bulbs may also be confused with those of the highly toxic death camas / star lilies (Toxicoscordion species) in the False-hellebore family
• Flowers in this family have acquired religious and artistic significance in many cultures
  • In ancient Assyria and Egypt, lilies were an emblem of sovereignty and a symbol of purity
  • In the Middle Ages, lilies became a symbol of the Virgin Mary
  • As funeral flowers, lilies symbolize the soul restored to innocence after death
• Scientific and common name from the included genus Lilium, from the Greek lirion, “a lily”; the genus was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753
• Historically large and highly diverse family, which has been greatly reduced based on studies of embryonic development, morphological details, and genetic evidence
• Represented by 8 species at Edgewood

Specific References

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley.

Schusler, T.M. 2004. Ecological impacts of high deer densities. TIEE: Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology. Ecological Society of America.

Kandeler, R., and W. Ullrich. 2009, May. Symbolism of plants: Examples from European-Mediterranean culture presented with biology and history of art: June: Lilies. Journal of Experimental Botany 60: 1893–1895. Oxford Academic.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.

Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family