What do you know about the lily flower? You may have seen it in a vase, a front yard, or perhaps a botanic garden. If it was in the summertime, you may have noticed the enormous, colorful six-petaled blooms that makes this flower famous. Maybe you even have a friend named Lily!

The beautiful bloom of the lily flower makes it one of the most popular flowering plants in the horticultural business. But, this showy flower is so much more than meets the eye. It has significant symbolism in a number of cultures, partly due to its beauty and radiance. If you’ve ever wondered what’s so special about the lily flower, this article is for you.

What makes a lily a lily? To start, we need to understand some general botanic info about the lily flower. There nearly 100 species of “true” lilies. These flowers fall in the genus Lilium in the family Liliaceae. Lilies have six petals and come in nearly every color of the rainbow. There are many other plants with “lily” in their names, such as daylily (genus Hemerocallis), water lily (Nymphaea), lily of the valley (Convallaria), and peace lily (Spathiphyllum). In this article, we’ll stick to the true lilies, and ignore the imposters. Here’s a handful of reasons why the lily flower is so special! -- Plantsnap website