General Characters of Liliaceae

Distribution:
Liliaceae are fairly large family comprising about 15 genera and 550 species. Members of this family are widely distributed over most part of the world.

Habit:
Mostlyperennial berba persisting by means of a sympodial rhizome (bgnatum), by a bulb (Lilium) corm (Colchicum), shrubby or tree like (Yucca and Dracaena), Woody climbers, climbing with the help of stipular tendrils in Smilax. Trees in (Xanthorrhoea), succulents (Aloe),

Root:
Adventitious, and (hraus) and typically contractile.

Stem:
Stems usually bulbous, rhizomatous in some, aerial, erect (ram or climbing (Smilax) in Ruscus the ultimate branches are modified into phylloclades, In Asparagus stem is modified into cladodes and the leaves are reduced to scales.

Leaf:
Leaves are radical (Lilium) or cauline (Dracaena), usually alternate, opposite (Gloriosa), sometimes fleshy and hollow, reduced to scales (Ruscus and Asparagus). The venation is parallel but in species of Smilax it is reticulate. Leaves are usually exstipulate, but in Smilax, two tendrils arise from the base of the leaf, which are considered modified stipules.

Inflorescence:
Flowers are usually borne in simple or branched racemes (Asphodelus) spikes in Aloe, huge terminal panicle in Yucca, solitary and axillary in Gloriosa, solitary and terminal in Tulipa.

Flowers:
Flowers are often showy, pedicellate, bracteate, ebracteolate, except Dianella and Lilium, bisexual, actinomorphic, trimerous, hypogynous, rarely unisexual (Smilax) and are dioecious, rarely tetramerous (Maianthemum), slightly zygomorphic (Lilium) and hypogynous.

Perianth:
Tepals 6 biseriate arranged in two whorls of 3 each, apotepalous or rarely syntepalous as in Aloe. Usually petaloid or sometimes sepaloid, odd tepal of the outer whorl is anterior in position, valvate or imbricate, tepals more than six in Paris quadrifolia.

Androecium:
Stamens 6, arranged in 2 whorls of 3 each, rarely stamens are 3 (Ruscus), 4 in Maianthemum, or up to 12, apostamenous, opposite to the tepals, sometimes epitepalous; filaments disting or connate, anthers dithecous, basifixed versatile, extrose, or introse, dehiscing usually by vertical slit and sometimes by terminal pores; rarely synstamenous (Ruscus).