<p>Floricultural crops are mainly developed using interspecific hybridization. Determining which wild species possess useful traits is important for understanding the breeding history of these crops and for designing future breeding strategies. Carotenoid accumulation levels in flowers are regulated by the balance between biosynthesis and decomposition, and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 4 (CCD4) is mainly involved in the latter. Asiatic hybrid lilies (<i>Lilium</i> spp.), developed by hybridization of wild species belonging to the Sinomartagon/Daurolirion section, include both carotenoid-free and carotenoid-accumulating flower cultivars. Carotenoid accumulation in tepals of such cultivars is strongly associated with decomposition, and <i>CCD4</i> is always expressed in carotenoid-free flowers. In this study, we characterized <i>CCD4</i> in wild species and Asiatic hybrid lily cultivars to determine which wild species contribute to the production of carotenoid-free flowers in Asiatic hybrid lilies. Among eight wild species in the Sinomartagon/Daurolirion section, only <i>L. cernuum</i> developed carotenoid-free flowers but others produced orange (carotenoid-accumulating) flowers. All eight wild species possessed the <i>CCD4</i> gene with differential organ-specific expression. While <i>CCD4</i> is expressed in the leaves of all wild species, <i>CCD4</i> in <i>L. cernuum</i> is expressed exceptionally in the tepals, suggesting its involvement in carotenoid decomposition in flowers. Cultivars of Asiatic hybrid lilies that develop carotenoid-free flowers contain <i>CCD4</i> with a nucleotide sequence very similar to that of <i>L. cernuum CCD4</i> and exhibit the same <i>CCD4</i> expression profile as that of <i>L. cernuum</i>, indicating that <i>CCD4</i> is transmitted from <i>L. cernuum</i> to Asiatic hybrid lilies to create carotenoid-free tepals.</p>