We have been following Shanleya on her adventure and she has brought us to the island of the Lily Family. The Lily Family follows patterns of three and six that help us to easily identify the family from other plants. Lilies are monocots, which means when they begin to sprout, they have only one seed leaf. Monocots also have parallel leaf veins as opposed to the net veined leaves of dicots.
The Lily Family flowers have three sepals and three petals, all of the same color. It is important to identify flowers from the outside in: first the sepals, then the petals, stamens and pistil. Normally, sepals are green but in the case of the Lily Family, they are the same color as the petals. The Lily Family has six stamens and one pistil with a 3 parted (or Y shaped stigma). Most plants in the Lily Family grow from bulbs.
Patterns of the Lily Family by Ben:
The Lily Guardian by Chris:
The Lily Guardian by Ben:
So, let's review:
3 sepals and 3 petals (sometimes collectively called "tepals")
6 stamens
1 three part stigma on the pistil
Read more about the Lily Family here. Also on that site, you can see photos of flowers of the Lily Family and its subfamilies. Most Lily Family members are edible though a couple are poisonous so it is very important to be able to positively identify them before eating.
Some activities might include:
- Starting lily bulbs indoors to be transplanted outside when the fear of frost has passed.
- Purchasing Easter Lilies for your home
- Visit the North American Lily Society or in the UK the Royal Horticultural Society Lily Group
- Watch a Lily Bloom
