
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
- 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals
- 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.
Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family


