What Is the Phylum of Lilies?

Phylum Anthophyta

• Lilies are members of the phylum Anthophyta, which is comprised of all the world's flowering plants; members of the phylum are more commonly referred to as "angiosperms." Anthophyta is the youngest and largest phylum of plants, and its more than 300,000 members, which includes lilies, make up the dominant form of vegetation on Earth. Members of the phylum Anthophyta are easily identified by the presence of flowers, which are actually a cluster of specialized leaves which aid the plant in pollination. Like all members of the phylum Anthophyta, lilies are capable of conducting photosynthesis and reproduce via pollination.

Family Liliaceae

• The family Lilieceae is comprised of nearly 4,000 species of flowering plants that originate via bulbs, tubers or rhizomes. Found in every area of the world except the Arctic, members of the family Liliaceae reproduce freely once established. Lilies grow from an underground bulb or tuber; they do not produce branches, but produce fruit pods that split open upon successful pollination; this fruit pod is characteristic of all Liliaceae family members. Other garden flowers that are members of the Liliaceae family include hyacinths, tulips, narcissus and amaryllis.

Genus Lilium

• The dozens of species of herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Lilium are "true" lilies. The "Grand Dame" or "Queen" of the garden, true lilies have three petals and three outer sepals, six stamens and long, thin leaves. Grown from fall-sown bulbs, some of which are edible, most true lilies are native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and bloom during spring and summer.

False Lilies

• Many flowering plants outside the genus Lilium include "lily" in their common English names. These "false lilies," as they are unofficially called, actually belong to entirely different families of flowering plants. Flowers such as calla lilies, peace lilies and lily-of-the-valley claim the name, but they are in fact unrelated to true lilies.