Like for example, if I wanted to write/talk about the lily flower, do I need
to write ユリの花 to discuss it or could I simply write ユリ or 百合.

On the side, for insects, like if I wanted to say butterfly, could I write
just 蝶 or does 蝶の虫 work as well?
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2020-05-18T23:12:06.607
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question
grammar
When writing a flower, can you simply write its name alone instead of adding の花
(ユリ or 百合)の花 describes a flower of lily (normally in blossom). I mean 花 is
normally describing the flower is "in blossom".

ユリ or 百合 often describes as the same meaning as above even without 花. It
probably mean not really describing the state of flowering of lily, but rather
stating the group of flowers called "lily".

蝶の虫 is bit awkward since 虫 is a large class. And 虫 does not mean any behavior
of insects(I mean 虫 by itself does not indicate insects are flying or etc.),
but rather normally is a biological classification. So, saying only 蝶 is fine
for describing the group of insects celled "butterfly".

As an idiomatic phrase, 虫 itself means "an enthusiast of something"(野球の虫、勉強の虫,
etc.). So, 本の虫 is an idiomatic phrase for describe people like reading a lot.
I think it's used in the same way as "bookworm" or "bibliophile" in English. I
think it may be possible to call a person who likes to collect butterflies and
has its specimen in a catalog as "蝶の虫" jokingly.
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2020-05-19T00:27:48.360
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answer
花 means "flower", that colorful structure of plants. For example, this is 百合
but not 百合の花:

[![百合](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0X7n7s.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0X7n7s.png)

This is 百合の花, but people often call this simply 百合:

[![百合の花](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)

When people say "I like tulips", it usually means they mainly like the
colorful flowers, not leaves or roots, right? Therefore, we don't usually
bother to say チューリップの花が好きです. チューリップが好きです is enough most of the time.

However, 百合 is special. 百合 also has [a slangy
meaning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_\(genre\)). If one says 百合が好きです,
it can possibly mean two different things, depending on the context:

[![百合](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)
[![百合](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9qo4s.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l9qo4s.png)

**THIS DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT**. Even otaku can use 百合 to mean something on
the left when he is talking about flowers. If someone (whether he is an otaku
or not) says 私はヒマワリと百合が好きです, it means "I like sunflowers and lilies", but
never "I like sunflowers and female-female romance".

Still, if you want to avoid any misunderstanding when there is not enough
context, you can say **百合の花** が好きです. By explicitly adding の花, it only means
this:

[![百合の花](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lN6t4s.png)

This is why people **_sometimes_** add の花 to 百合. You can confirm this by image
search:

  * Pixiv Tag Search: [百合](https://www.pixiv.net/tags/%E7%99%BE%E5%90%88) and [百合の花](https://www.pixiv.net/tags/%E7%99%BE%E5%90%88%E3%81%AE%E8%8A%B1)
  * Yahoo! Image Search: [百合](https://search.yahoo.co.jp/image/search?p=%E7%99%BE%E5%90%88) vs [百合の花](https://search.yahoo.co.jp/image/search?p=%E7%99%BE%E5%90%88%E3%81%AE%E8%8A%B1)

But this doesn't mean you **_always_** have to say 百合の花. If there is enough
context, 百合 is enough. You don't usually have to add の花 to other flowers,
either. It won't cause any misunderstanding.

(If you're still concerned about [this picture](http://otegaru-info.net/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/T-Tit-Ir-co-Ron-
ult_page-0003-e1571668755507-349x530.jpg), it says ユリ **の花** , so this does
**not** refer to female-female romance.)

蝶の虫 doesn't work. 花 refers to a part of a plant (a lily has flowers, leaves, a
stalk, etc), but 虫 refers to an insect itself.
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answer