One manstrout lilyis another man’sdogtooth violet.
What Is a True Lily?
A true lily is part of theLiliumgenus and grows from a bulb.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
For example, you may wonder if a daylily is a true lily.
Daylilies can grow up to 4 feet tall.
Daylilies also grow from thick,tuberous rootsthat are easily divided.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Daylilies are popular with hybridizing breeders, and there are over 30,000 named varieties.
Each flower blooms for only one day, which is why daylilies do not make good cut flowers.
The flowers are borne on thin stalks, or scapes, that grow from the base of the plant.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
The scapes may be multi-branched.
Older varieties need to be deadheaded every day to keep them in bloom.
Newer hybrids tend to deadhead themselves.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Most plants have multiple buds that will bloom over a period of time.
The top three are the actual petals.
The bottom three are sepals.
The center of the flower, the throat, is often a contrasting color.
Each flower has either six or seven stamen and an additional two-lobed anther.
The leaves grow around the entire length of the stem, in whorls or spirals.
Lilies can grow from about 1.5 feet tall to a towering 10 feet.
Lilies always have six petals and six anthers.
Each bloom lasts a week or more.
True lilies are popular cut flowers.
If you bring your lilies indoors, consider removing the anthers.
The thick pollen can stain anything it falls on or touches.
Multi-stems with strapping leaves coming from the base of the plant is always a daylily.
A single stem with leaves whirling about it is always a true lily.
Whats a Tiger Lily?
The blooms are orange or reddish-orange and have dark-brown speckles covering the petals.
The petals of the tiger lily curve backward and the whole blossom droops downward.
The ditch lily, however, is anorange daylilywhich grows from tuberous roots and blooms for a day.
