Lilies and their history

Did you know that there are around 110 species of lily and countless lily types? No wonder lilies are so popular! Here, they are among the most frequently requested cut flowers. They probably also count among the oldest existing flowers. Their origins can be traced back some 12 million years. The first species allegedly appeared in the Himalayas. Other species then gradually colonised every continent in the northern hemisphere.

Their beauty ensured that they were widely appreciated as ornamental plants, although they were also used as religious symbols. Today, their main habitat is China, followed by Japan, North America, Europe and the Caucasus. Lilies are still used as medicinal plants and even as edibles, particularly in Asia.

The most prevalent species is the Turk's cap lily (Lilium martagon), which grows from China across Russia right through to the Iberian Peninsula. Lilies did not become commercially important as cultivated plants and cut flowers until the 20th century.