Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-23

(WHICH is the real Easter lily? Is
w it the lily of the valley, the
J" pretty pond lily the majestic
Gala or the modest modern flowers tna'
all men admire and most men buy IN
celebration OF the greatest Of religious
festivals?
To what kind of flower did Jesus re1er
when in the sermon on the Mount lie
smoke of the "lilies of the field, WHICH,
though they neither toiled nor spun, OUT
did King Solomon in the beauty of their
raiment. :.
It has been popularity supposed that the
lilies of the valley was the one meant.
That s,u.h was the case. however. seems
unlikely if only for the reason that TINS
,,.nt docs not grow in the fields. 1t Is
neculiarly an inhabitant of carefully cuiti-
waited gardens, producing us peii-hho
blossoms i'm shady corners
Not at all probable does IL seem 'iia'
Jesus may have had in mlnd the CANA
lilv. which, having originated In Ethiop,a,
vas familiarly known in Palestine AT lne
ne,.iod which the Savior lived Inc
Me,x;ntians used the roots of the promo
plant as a table vegetapie. These roo.s
look somewhat like irish potatoes. anu
in the swamp the Gala grows SO tnlcAiy
Ratanicaiiy speaking, however. the
Gala ia not a lily. Tulips are truer lines,
"a MI so likewise are the leek, the garhc
and the asparagus But the cana is al
r,,1nit,, as we'll as the Elephants ear
plant'' commonly grown as an orna-
mental. - ra ossoc;o- :
tion. Back in the dim ages or the past,
DO
Lsvynt,an priests chose the lotus, u menu
her of the lily family, as the symbol Oh
their religion. 1t was regarded as al EN-
hIem of the Nile, symbolizing the creation
of the world from the waters. In Ihola
Ruddha is tabled to have made his en-
trance into the world seated on lotus
In Catholic countries the lily is sacred
to the Virgin Mary, because it is a sym
boil Of purity. the Angels pa.n.eu ,,, py 'ie
their hands And legend tells that
when the disciples looked into the tomb
Of Jesus after the resurrection, 1T was
filled with lilies.
The lilies that appear in the paintings
of Murillo and other old masters are
not callas They are of the familiar Eas-
ter lily type. and are easily recognizable
as the Madonna or annunciatlon lily-tne
latter name being given them because Of
the belief that the angel of the annunci-
alton appeared to the Virgin Mary with
these lilies in his hands
This kind Of lily, F1metimes called ST.
Joseph's lily, was wio ely cultivated In Eu-
rope in early historic times. 1t seems to
have originated in Palestine or some
where about that region, and so may
we'll have been the flower to which
Jesus referred Under cultivation it grows
in fields, which at the time of poisoning
are a veritable sea of bloom.
This, however, is not exactly the mod
ern Easter lily. The latter, though near
~ related, Is different variety brought
originally from Japan to Bermuda, and
is known as the "longifiorum" or ''trum-
pet lily" In Bermuda. through horti-
cultural accident, was developed as what
gardeners call a sport" a subvariety
for. early blossoming. hardi-
ness, height and the size and large num-
Der of flowers, also for the case with
which 1t may be forced in lighthouses.
In 1879 woman of Philadelphia, re-