Madonna lily
Lilium; Greek krinon
- Known today as
- Lilium candidum.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- steroidal saponins, mucilage and starch, linalool and benzyl esters
- Earliest authority here
- Pliny (AD 23/24–79)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: An older authority added from a text read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Madonna lily: what was it used for?
The bulb, roasted or in oil, to ripen swellings and soothe burns; its oil, susinum, in ointments.
Madonna lily: what does modern science say?
Soothing as a poultice; no specific action shown.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- steroidal saponinsin the bulb
- mucilage and starch
- linalool and benzyl estersthe scent, the base of susinum
- Mechanism
- A roasted bulb is a hot mucilaginous poultice, which draws a boil as any such does; the saponins are mildly irritant. The flowers’ pollen stains, and the plant is toxic to cats, not to people.
- Toxic dose
- Safe externally.
- Standing
- No monograph; a plant of the Virgin’s iconography more than of the pharmacy.
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Lily, Madonna.” Book, seen in reviews
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Madonna lily: what lore surrounds it?
The white lily of the Annunciation, carried by Gabriel in the paintings: the flower of the Virgin’s purity.
Classical myth traced the lily’s whiteness to a pagan source: when the infant Heracles was put to Hera’s breast and pulled away, her spilled milk formed the Milky Way, and, in one telling, a fallen portion became the first lily on earth.
Madonna lily: what did the older authorities say?
- Pliny
- “The lily holds the next highest rank after the rose,” sharing with it the making of unguents, its oil being called lirinon; no flower grows taller, sometimes three cubits, “the head of it being always drooping, as though the neck of the flower were unable to support its weight,” and “the whiteness of the lily is quite remarkable”; he also records a method of tinting lilies by steeping the stalks in wine-lees, “thanks to the taste of mankind for monstrous productions.”
Sources
- Dioscorides, De materia medica. Read in part · the text read
- Wikipedia, “Milk of Hera.” Book, not indexed
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History 21.11, 21.13, trans. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley (1855), Perseus Digital Library. Primary text
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 4 cited: 1 read in part, 1 primary text, 1 book, seen in reviews, 1 book, not indexed.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Madonna lily.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/madonna-lily.
- MLA
“Madonna lily.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/madonna-lily. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Madonna lily. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/madonna-lily
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See Also
Sharing steroidal saponins
Also in Pliny the Elder
Manna in Pliny the Elder · Madder in Pliny the Elder · Mistletoe in Pliny the Elder · Long pepper in Pliny the Elder · everything Pliny the Elder names →
Drawing on the same sources: Dioscorides, Wikipedia, Grieve
Mandrake · Litharge · Marjoram and jasmine · Mugwort · Mallow and marshmallow · Lovage · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Malmsey · Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) · Man on horseback (long counted a good edible) · Lourdes water
Historical description, not medical advice.