Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The November Lily

Lilium longiflorum, (Japanese:テッポウユリ, Teppouyuri) often called the Easter lily or November lily, is a plant native to the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) and Taiwan. It is a stem rooting lily, growing up to 1 m high. It bears a number of trumpet shaped, white, fragrant, and outward facing flowers.

A variety of it, L. longiflorum var. eximium, native to the Ryukyu Islands, is taller and more vigorous. It is extensively cultivated as a cut flower. It has irregular blooming periods in nature, and this is exploited in cultivation, allowing it to be forced for flowering at particular periods, such as Easter. However, it can be induced to flower over a much wider period. This variety is sometimes called the Bermuda lily because it has been much cultivated in Bermuda.

From the 1890s to the early 1920s, there was a thriving export trade of bulbs from Bermuda to New York. A disease affected the Bermuda lilies: this was identified by Lawrence Ogilvie. Then most Easter lily bulbs arriving in the United States were imported from Japan before 1940s. The supply of bulbs was suddenly cut off after the attack on Pearl Harbor and Easter lilies became extremely valuable in the United States.

Lilium longiflorum, amongst some other types of lilies, are extremely poisonous to cats.




Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_longiflorum

See also: Online Flower, Flowers Mexico, Delivery Toronto

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