by Joan H. Young

Created on: October 13, 2010   Last Updated: October 19, 2010

Banks of beautiful, sweet-scented white lilies decorate our churches and homes at Easter. The Easter Lily is a standard part of the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Yet, we hardly stop to think about how that flower came to be associated with Easter, or how all those plants appear magically in stores.

The history of the Easter Lily has two components: the legends surrounding its symbolism, and the botanical history of the plant.

 * History - Legends of the Easter Lily

The lily is a prominent Christian symbol. It is often associated with the Virgin Mary, representing her purity, and having a golden soul. The white petals flowing around the golden anthers conjures up the image of a white-robed saint with a heart of gold. In fact, the lily is sometimes known as the “white-robed apostle of hope.”

Christians also draw from the prophet Hosea’s writings, who gave this word from God, "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." (Hosea 14:15).This is interpreted to be a picture of the Messiah as a lily. One legend says that after Jesus’ resurrection, white lilies were found to have sprung up in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he walked and prayed - wherever a tear fell, a lily grew.

It is possible that when Scripture refers to lilies, it may simply be speaking generally of wildflowers, but the tradition of using lilies as a symbol of purity and hope, and even of Christ, extends back so far that its exact origins are lost.

Lilies also appear in pagan mythology, such as representing the milk of Hera, mother of Heaven, dripping down upon the earth as a blessing.

 * History - Botanical Facts about Easter Lilies

There are two different plants commonly called Easter Lilies. Both have bright white flowers, with six petals.

In North America, the Lilium longiflorum is the most often seen. It is a tall plant with clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers, each four to five inches across.  It’s sweet-smelling blooms are forced into a spring blooming period for Easter sales each year, when they are used to decorate sanctuaries and graves, stores and dwellings.

The Lilium longiflorum is native to Japan and Taiwan. It was “discovered” by Europeans when the Far East was opened to trade in the mid nineteenth century, and became associated with Easter celebrations in the United States following the Civil War. First, the bulbs were taken to England in 1819, and then to Bermuda

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