There are between 80 to 100 specie of lilies ( Liliaceae ) , and most are aboriginal to the Northern Hemisphere in Asia , Europe and North America . The bulbs produce leafy stalk and orotund peak , some of which are strongly scented . lily have been care for throughout history for their beauty and essence , and they serve as an crucial ethnic symbolic representation .

In Ancient Times

In Greek mythology , the lily was the flower of Hera , wife of Zeus , and was supposed to have spring from the milk of her breast . In Roman mythology , Venus , goddess of knockout , was purportedly so jealous of the heyday ’s white loveliness that she caused a huge pistil to grow from its center .

The lily flower was considered sacred in the Minoan culture , and a painted image of one see to about 1580 B.C. was found in Crete .

In the Bible

The flower is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments . The lily became a symbol of pureness and chastity in Christianity and became associated with the Virgin Mary . It was also a representation of death and symbolized the loss of innocent children and the martyrdom of saints .

Lily Explorers

During the priggish era , European industrial plant Internet Explorer , mostly British , scoured the globe for " new " plant and discovered many new species of lily . One of the first was an Irish doctor turned botanist and explorer , name Augustine Henry . Originally more concerned in finding medicative plants in the Orient , he became captivated by the search for exotic blossom . The orangish Lilium henryii , or Henry ’s lily , is named after him .

Another famous plant IE was an Englishman named E.H. Wilson , who found so many flora in China that he realize the sobriquet " Chinese Wilson " . One of his most celebrated find was the white Lilium regale , the regal lily .

The Easter Lily

The Easter lily , Lilium longiflorum , is a indigen of Japan . Production in the United States get when an Oregon soldier named Louis Houghton returned home from World War I with some of the bulbs and shared them with fellow gardeners . When World War II begin and Asian sources of the electric light were shorten off , the Easter lily became scarce and expensive . American lily nursery production skyrocketed . By 1945 , 1,200 lily growers were in business along the West Coast .

Hybridization

Before they were extensively hybridized , lily were rare and could be difficult to produce . Jan de Graaff , a native of Holland who started Oregon Bulb Farms in 1934 , was responsible for many of the dependable hybrid so pop on the market place today .

De Graaff set about his first lily experimentation in 1938 , and in 1941 he produced Enchantment , a coral - color , upward - facing lily that Horticulture magazine call " the most famous hybrid lily of all time . "

Historical Uses

Although the lily has no real pharmaceutical value , it was commonly believed to have witching character . Elizabethan - era medical texts recommended using the lily to handle pyrexia , wounds and arthritis .

Lily bulb are buckram and have long been used in cooking in China . They are a frequent ingredient in the local preparation of Shanghai .

References

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