What Does a Tiger Lily Symbolize?
The tiger lily is often used as a symbol of friendship. However, it is also used as a symbol of wealth, pride and prosperity. If the lilies are orange, they represent passionate love.
The tiger lily supposedly gets its symbolic meanings from several myths in Asian culture. There is an old myth about a hermit who found a tiger with an arrow jabbed into his body. The hermit tried to remove the arrow and save the tiger, but the tiger died. However, the tiger promised the hermit their friendship would survive after death. The tiger’s body then became a tiger lily and is therefore a symbol of friendship.
Tiger lilies were first discovered on the riverbanks of Korea, Japan and China. Asian farmers discovered they could cultivate the bulbs and remove the toxic parts and then eat the bulbs. In farms, the tiger lily is grown as a root crop, and the bulbs are cultivated before the flowers bloom. The tiger lily has also been used as a medical treatment in ancient Asia. It was often used to cure nausea and urinary problems and to suppress an aggressive nature.
The tiger lily gets its name from its flamboyantly colored petals. The petals are orange and usually have black lines and dots going across them, similar to a tiger.
