THERE are many plants that go by the name of lily, but it turns out that not all of them are true lilies with the scientific name Lilium. The daylily looks a little like a true lily, but is in fact a Hemerocallis, and each flower opens only for a day. The white calla lily is nothing like a true lily and is, in fact, a Zantedeschia. Even the biblical “lilies of the field” were probably not lilies at all.
The true lilies
The true lilies, Lilium, are mostly perennial bulbs from which grows an upright stem up to 6½ft (2m) tall topped with large, showy, often scented, six-petalled flowers each on its own stalk. In shape, they vary from a funnel or trumpet shape to rolled back at the petal tips. Up to 20 flowers may open in each flowerhead.
Many have white flowers, others come in purples, reds, orange and yellow shades, pinks and white – often with attractive speckling or streaking or
