Madonna Lily
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Madonna Lily ( Lilium candidum ) |
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The Madonna lily or white lily ( Lilium candidum ) is a species of the genus of lilies ( Lilium ) in the Candidum section named after it .
description
Madonna lilies are perennial, herbaceous plants that reach stature sizes between 50 and 130 centimeters. Unlike other lilies, the bulb , which sits directly under the surface of the earth, is broadly oval, white and up to 9 centimeters in diameter, the scales are numerous and broadly ovoid. The strong, smooth stem is tinged with purple, greener towards the end and 14 millimeters thick at the base. The spirally arranged, numerous leaves are shiny and hairless, lanceolate, up to 8 inches long and ovate and shorter towards the top. In autumn, the plants form a native rosette of up to 22 centimeters long, broadly lanceolate leaves and new roots at the same time.
The inflorescence is a cluster of two to twelve, rarely up to twenty strongly scented, funnel-shaped to cup-shaped flowers, the flower tube is short and widened, the green flower stalks are around 40 millimeters long. The bracts are linearly inverted-lanceolate, strongly bent back in the upper third, 55 to 65, rarely up to 80 millimeters long and 6 to 13, rarely up to 20 millimeters wide, their surfaces are hairless and without papillae . They are pure white, but can have a yellow-green tinge at the base and the tips. Flowering time is May - June.
The white stamens are 45 to 50 (57) millimeters long, the kidney-shaped anthers 9 to 11 millimeters, the pollen is golden yellow. The light green, club-shaped stylus is 35 to 50, rarely up to 60 millimeters long, the stigma is three-part, finely papilous and light green. The ovary is round-cylindrical, grooved and green. The seed germinates instantly - epigeously .
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.
distribution
Madonna lilies are native to the eastern Mediterranean countries from Greece (Macedonia) to Israel (Galilee) as well as Syria and Crete. There they colonize extremely dry and hard clay soils from sea level to montane levels in summer.
Only a few locations of the Madonna Lily are originally wild, the majority of all occurrences are considered naturalized origin due to the long culture in the Mediterranean area. The Madonna lily probably originates from the forested regions of the eastern Mediterranean as far as Syria, the few surviving wild populations in Macedonia , Israel and Lebanon roughly mark this area. The extensive loss of the original habitats has led to a move to secondary locations such as maquis or scrubland. It also occurs sporadically in the whole Mediterranean area, up to the Canary Islands.
Danger
While the great human interest in the plants contributed to the spread of the plants, it posed an enormous threat to uncultivated populations in every respect.
Botanical history
The Madonna Lily, also known as the White Lily , was described by Linne in 1753. The species name candidum means "radiant white".
Cultural history
Carl Feldmaier and Judith McRae described the Madonna lily as “[…] the prototype of lilies in general. Because of its beauty and uniqueness, it was surrounded by mysticism, it was a remedy and religious symbol that has retained its power from the earliest historical times through the Middle Ages to our times. "
Already in the middle of the second millennium BC The Madonna lily was cultivated in Asia Minor, which would make it one of the oldest cultivated ornamental plants. Images of Madonna lilies can be found on vases from Santorini (1500 BC), for example , where they were probably used as cut flowers. Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh show Madonna lilies. Mentions in the Bible (e.g. Hld 2,1 EU ) cannot be assigned to a specific species, but due to the range of distribution, only the Madonna lily would come into question. (For the plants in Hld 2,1 see also Rose of Sharon .)
The Madonna Lily was later mentioned by Virgil and Ovid .
In Christianity the lily (Middle High German was Gilge ) to the Middle Ages as a pagan connotations, and only then was the detour of the Biblical Susanna (of Hebrew Shushan "the lily"), which as a forerunner of Mary is true, the Easter Lily because of their brilliant white color the symbol of purity in the Christian design language and thus received its name. As a concession to innocence, however, the Madonna Lily was usually depicted without a stamp or stamens . It can be seen particularly often in paintings that have the Annunciation ( Lk 1.26 EU ) as their subject. In Christian iconography , the Archangel Gabriel is often represented with a white lily in his hand; this is a symbol of the perpetual virginity of Mary .
Literature and Sources
- Peter H. Davis (Ed.): Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Vol. 8 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1984, ISBN 0-85224-494-0 , pp. 281-282.
- Carl Feldmaier, Judith McRae: The new lilies . Ulmer, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-8001-6121-4 .
- Aharon Horovitz, Avinoam Danin: Relatives of ornamental plants in the flora of Israel (PDF file; 1.43 MB) . In: Israel Journal of Botany , 32 : 75-95 (1983).
- Hans Simon, Leo Jelitto, Wilhelm Schacht: Die Freiland - Ornamental Perennials, Vol. 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-6378-0 , p. 567.
- Mark Wood: Lily Species - Notes and Images. CD-ROM, version of July 13, 2006.
Individual evidence
- ^ Tropicos
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 , p. 122 (reprint from 1996).
- ↑ Carl Feldmaier, Judith McRae: The new lilies. , P. 220
- ^ Penelope Hobhouse, Gardening through the Ages. London, Simon & Schuster 1992, 17
- ↑ Aen. 6.709 " candida circum lilia funduntur " = "flooded with white lilies" or Georg. 4,130 " Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver regum " = "... all around also with white lilies, holy green and devouring poppies planting ..."
- ↑ Met. 4,355
