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Since Israel's independence, the
production of garden plants and cut
flowers has grown significantly. Today, with export of more than 200 million dollars, Israel is one of the larger suppliers to the world market.
Lilies are 100 bulbous plant species,
native to the Northern Hemisphere.
They flower in spring and summer on a leafy stalk that carries 5 to 7 bell-shaped or bowl-shaped, large, often fragrant, flowers in many colors. The beauty of the gradually opening up flowers made the lily a garden ornamental as far back as ancient times.
Since 1928, breeders have created hundreds of different hybrids, making. lilies one of the most common cut flowers and flowering pot plants.
The study of the methods of environmental control of flowering has today facilitated an almost industrial production of flowers from these hybrids.
The "Asiatic" hybrid species is illustrated on the stamp.
Many thousands of cultivated lily bulbs and flowers are exported from Israel world—wide.
Dr. Michael Avishai
