Common Name: LILY FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb from membranous bulb or scaly rhizome. Stem: underground or erect, branched or not. Leaf: basal or cauline, alternate, subopposite, or whorled. Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, +- umbel-like or not. Flower: perianth parts 6 in 2 generally petal-like whorls, often showy; stamens 3 or 6, filaments free or +- fused to perianth, anthers attached at base or near middle; ovary superior or +- so, style 1, entire or 3-lobed. Fruit: capsule or berry. Seed: 3--many, flat or angled, brown to black.
Genera In Family: 16 genera, 635 species: northern temperate. Note: Users strongly encouraged to protect plants by working around need to see underground parts in using keys, e.g., by trying both leads in couplets solely dependent on such characters. Muscari botryoides (L.) Mill. an historical waif in California. Other TJM (1993) taxa moved to Agavaceae (Agave, Camassia, Chlorogalum, Hastingsia, Hesperocallis, Hesperoyucca, Leucocrinum, Yucca), Alliaceae (Allium, Ipheion, Nothoscordum), Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllis, Narcissus, Pancratium), Asparagaceae (Asparagus), Asphodelaceae (Aloe, Asphodelus, Kniphofia), Melanthiaceae (Pseudotrillium, Stenanthium, Toxicoscordion, Trillium, Veratrum, Xerophyllum), Nartheciaceae (Narthecium), Ruscaceae (Maianthemum, Nolina), Smilacaceae (Smilax), Tecophilaeaceae (Odontostomum), Themidaceae (Androstephium, Bloomeria, Brodiaea, Dichelostemma, Muilla, Triteleia), and Tofieldiaceae (Triantha). North American species of Disporum now in Prosartes.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Dale W. McNeal, Thomas J. Rosatti.

Common Name: LILY
Habit: Plant from bulb-like, scaly rhizomes (called bulbs here for brevity), generally not clonal, +- glabrous; bulb scale segments 2--many, if segmented. Stem: erect. Leaf: > 12, +- whorled (often some alternate), sessile, spreading with drooping tips to ascending, generally +- elliptic; veins generally 3; stipule 0. Inflorescence: flowers axillary, 1--40+; bracts generally 2 per flower. Flower: generally radial, generally bell- or funnel-shaped; perianth parts 6 in 2 petal-like whorls, +- lanceolate, base narrowed, generally red-purple-spotted adaxially; stamens 6, generally exceeding to much exceeding perianth, anthers attached at middle (measures are after dehiscence); style 1, stigma 3-lobed. Fruit: capsule, erect, generally +- smooth, loculicidal. Seed: many, flat, in 6 stacks. Chromosomes: n=12.
Etymology: (Greek: lily) Note: Variable, hybridization common. Many species declining from habitat destruction, collecting; few thrive in gardens. Generally flowers May--Aug.
eFlora Treatment Author: Mark W. Skinner
Unabridged Reference: Skinner 1988 Ph.D. Dissertation Harvard Univ

Habit: Plant < 2.8 m, +- clonal; bulb spreading-elongate, often branched, scales (1)2--4-segmented, longest 1--3.3 cm. Leaf: alternate or in 1--8 whorls, 4--27 cm, generally +- elliptic; margin generally not wavy. Inflorescence: flowers 1--28(35), pendent. Flower: +- widely bell-shaped, generally not fragrant; perianth parts 3.4--10.4 cm, reflexed in distal 67--75%, generally +- 2-toned, adaxially generally pale orange to red on distal 25--60%, lighter near base, with maroon spots near tip margined yellow or orange, abaxially paler and green on basal +- 20%; filaments +- widely diverging, anthers 5--22 mm, +- magenta to orange or yellow, turning darker, pollen red-brown to yellow, turning lighter; pistil 3--8 cm. Fruit: 2.3--6 cm.