Lilies:Do they have seeds?

[Navin]

I have a lily grown at home called the spider lily or Hymenocallis pedalis. The flower has 5 stamens and a pistil. one would expect this flower to produce a fruit with seeds. However, no fruits come and therefore I cannot obtain any seeds.
Is this true for all lilies? Do they only reproduce by bulbs?

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[bearhug]

Actually lilies are monocots so they do have seeds.

[Navin]

Have you ever seen or obtained the seeds?

[bearhug]

I don’t know about lily reproduction specifically but I do have lilies in my room as we speak. Ever since you asked your question I have been looking for some form of a seed in them. One thing I recently noticed is that one of the flowers is dripping a clear thick liquid at the tip of the carpel. I’m researching to see if this liquid contains a "seed" and the lily drips the embryo into the ground to continue it’s cycle of life. I wish I had a slide and a microscope. 🙂 It’s pretty cool.

[MrMistery]

actually i think that liquid is there to "catch" the pollen…

[Navin]

Yes I agree with MrMistery. Normally the stigma will have a sticky liquid so that the pollen grains will stick itself to the stigma and grow its pollen tube.

I really wanted to know if lilies have seeds, so what I did was to pollinate the flowers in my garden by using a paintbrush. I hope it works!

[Author]

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