In the ancient era, lilies are referred to as colorful and fancy flowers according to the Holy Bible.
| And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew Chapter 6) |
But you can not see other than white lilies in church. This is because
there was only one specie of lily till 18th century in Europe - white lily.
The lily was given as a floral tribute to the Blessed Virgin and symbolized as chastity, and was called "Madonna lily".
Most of the lilies are imported from China and Japan to Europe afterward,
and there is a lily named after Marco Polo, great traveller.
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Oriental Lily （"Kanoko-yuri") "Kanoko" means a child of deer. Variegated petals resembles the spots of deer skin. Dr. Siebold, German doctor working for Dutch merchant in Edo period at Nagasaki, brought back the bulbs from Japan to Europe together with hydrangea. (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) ↓(Seijo, Setagaya)  |
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| White Oriental Lily ("Shiro-Kanoko-yuri") This breed is called "Casa Blanca" Close to "Madonna lily" (Akatsutsumi, Setagaya) |
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Another White Oriental lily, but the pollen differs from the above. This has merchandise name "Snow-on-the-peak". (Sakurajosui, Setagaya) |
| Elegant Lily("Sukashi-yuri") (Kinuta, Setagaya) |
Tiger Lily("Oni-yuri") (Matsubara, Setagaya) |
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| Day Lily("Yabu-kanzou") (Kinuta, Setagaya) |
Day Lily (Hachimanyama, Setagaya) |
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| Day Lily("No-kanzou") (Hanegi, Setagaya) |
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