Nat. Ord. Liliace/e—(Gray.) 
Lilium Philadelphicum. 
“ Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they 
spin; and yet I say nnto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
one of these.” 
word Lily is derived from the Celtic, which signifies li , 
whiteness; also from the Greek, lirion. Probably the 
stately Lily of the garden, Lilium candidum , was the 
flower to which the name was first given, from its ivory 
whiteness and the exquisite polish of its petals. However that may 
be, the name Lily is ever associated in our minds with grace and 
purity, and reminds us of the Saviour of men, who spake of the 
lilies of the field, how they grew and flourished beneath the care of 
Him who clothed them in robes of beauty more gorgeous than the 
kingly garments of Royal Solomon. 
Sir James Smith, one of the most celebrated of English 
botanists, suggests that the lilies alluded to by our Lord may have 
been Amaryllis Lutea , or the Golden Lily of Palestine—the bright 
yellow blossoms of a plant which abounds in the fields of Judea, 
and at that moment probably caught his eye ; their glowing colour 
aptly illustrating the subject on which he was about to speak. 
