Easter Lily

Easter Lily (*Lilium longiflorum*), native to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, is a classic trumpet-shaped white lily famed for its elegant pure white blooms and intense sweet fragrance. It is traditionally forced into bloom in spring for Easter celebrations and spring floral displays. However, behind its pristine appearance lies an extreme toxicity hazard: all true *Lilium* species, including the Easter Lily, are FATAL to cats. Even microscopic amounts of pollen licked off a cat's fur, or drinking water from a vase holding Easter Lilies, causes rapid acute renal failure and kidney collapse within 24 to 72 hours.

From a botanical standpoint, Easter Lilies produce large, outward-facing or slightly nodding, pure white trumpet flowers measuring 5 to 7 inches long. Each flower has 6 pure white tepals (3 sepals and 3 petals that look identical) with a long tube narrowing at the base. Inside the tube sit 6 prominent golden-yellow anthers carried on long white filaments surrounding a single green 3-lobed pistil. The leaves are narrow, shiny green, lance-shaped, and arranged spirally or in whorls along a single unbranched stiff green stem that grows 2 to 3 feet tall.

In home gardens, Easter Lilies are perennial bulbs in US Hardiness Zones 7–9. After spring forcing, forced potted lilies can be planted outdoors in a sunny garden bed with sharp drainage, where they will revert to their natural bloom cycle in mid-summer (July to August). Outdoor plants require rich, well-drained soil and consistent moisture during the growing season.

Because of the extreme threat to felines, veterinary poison centers strongly advise cat owners to never bring Easter Lilies into households with cats. If a cat comes into contact with any part of an Easter Lily or its pollen, emergency veterinary decontamination (induced vomiting, activated charcoal, and 48 hours of IV fluid therapy) must begin immediately before acute kidney failure sets in.