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Birth Flower May
Lily
Lily the May birth flower can mean many things including purity, majesty, beauty, sweetness and humility Wealth and pride are also symbolized in the Tiger Lily.
The English word lily is derived from an Indo-European root, probably meaning white, though this is disputed. The botanic name Lilium is the Latin form and is a Linnean name.
Many species of the flower form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.
The large showy flowers have six petals, often fragrant, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows and reds, sometimes with other markings. The lily is summer flowering. Most species are deciduous, but Lilium candidum bears a basal rosette of leaves for much of the year. Flowers are formed at the top of a single erect stem, with leaves being borne at intervals up the stem.
 
Lilies are native to the northern temperate regions. Their range in the Old World extends across much of Europe, the north Mediterranean, across most of Asia to Japan, south to the Nilgiri mountains in India, and south to the Philippines. In the New World they extend from southern Canada through much of the United States. Lilies are commonly adapted to either woodland habitats, often mountain, or sometimes to grassland habitats. A few lilies can also survive in marshland.
May Birth Stone: Emerald
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