Lycoris

Plant Characteristics
Habit		bulbous
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Features:	✓	flowers
Flower features:	❀	red, orange, yellow, white

Scientific Names
Amaryllidaceae >	Lycoris >

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Lycoris is a genus of 13–20 species of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, formerly often treated in the family Liliaceae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia in Japan, southern Korea, eastern and southern China, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, northern Thailand, northern Burma, Nepal, northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and eastern Iran. In English they are also called hurricane lilies or cluster amaryllis. The genus shares the English name spider lily with two other related genera. ^[1]^[2]^[3]

They are bulb-producing perennial plants. The leaves are long and slender, 30–60 cm long and only 0.5–2 cm broad. The scape is erect, 30–70 cm tall, bearing a terminal umbel of four to eight flowers, which can be white, yellow, orange, or red. The flowers divide into two types, those very long, filamentous stamens two or three times as long as the tepals (subgenus Lycoris; e.g. Lycoris radiata), and those with shorter stamens not much longer than the tepals (subgenus Symmanthus Traub & Moldenke; e.g. Lycoris sanguinea). The fruit is a three-valved capsule containing several black seeds. Many of the species are sterile, reproducing only vegetatively, and are probably of hybrid origin; several additional known hybrids occur.^[1]^[2]^[4]

Read about Lycoris in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Lycoris sanguinea, a species with short stamens Lycoris and butterfly Lycoris (named probably after a nereid in Greek mythology). Amaryllidaceae. Attractive amaryllislike bulbous plants from China and Japan. From Amaryllis, the genus is separated by technical characters of the fl., which has few rather than many ovules in a cell, and by black rather than green seeds. Perianth funnel-shaped, somewhat irregular, with a short cylindrical tube enlarged at the top, sometimes with scales in the throat; segms. oblanceolate, clawed; stamens inserted near the throat, the filaments long and declinate; ovary 3- celled, the style filiform, the stigma minute and capitate: bulb tunicated, short-necked: peduncle solid: lvs. linear or strap-shaped: umbel many-fld., bearing red or yellow blooms.— Species about a half-dozen. At least two species are hardy in New England. Two bloom in summer and two in early autumn. Two have red fls., one has lilac or purple fls., one yellow or orange. Three have the perianth-segms. more or less recurved and fluted or crisped at the margin. In all cases the fls. appear without foliage, being borne on a scape 1-3 ft. long, in umbels of 4-12 fls., each 3-4 in. across. The white filaments and yellow anthers are conspicuous features. The lvs. make their growth, die down, and after a long rest the bulbs send up fl.-stalks alone. These plants are highly esteemed in China and Japan, and bulbs are constantly sent to the western world, but with us they seem to be wayward and uncertain, particularly as to the time of blooming. L. aurea reverses the custom of nature. It rests in the wet season and flowers in the dry season. How the bulbs can remain dormant during the early Chinese summer, with the thermometer at 85° in the shade and a yearly rainfall of 100 in., is a mystery. Botanically this genus is placed next to Hippeastrum, an American genus, in which the seeds are numerous in a locule, and usually flat, while in Lycoris they are few in a locule and turgid. Horticulturally Lycoris is most nearly comparable to Nerine, but the seeds of the former are black and of the latter green; in Nerine the tube is nearly or quite wanting, stamens inserted at base of segms., filaments thickened at base and 3 shorter, style obscurely tricuspidate, fls., red. For many years, L. aurea has been cultivated in American gardens, although it is not a common plant. More recently, with large importations of L. radiata, the interest in the genus has widened. These species have the handsomer flowers, and are preferably cultivated under glass, although the bulbs are probably hardy in warm protected borders; at least they have more than once been frozen in pots at Elizabeth, New Jersey, without apparent harm. In its habitat in China, L. aurea rests in the wet season, and the most success in culture has been found in growing it in a warmhouse, taking care to cultivate the foliage and rest the bulbs in warmth and moist earth. The same general directions may be followed for L. radiata. As with all bulbs, a vigorous growth of foliage is essential to the future appearance of flowers. L. squamigera amd L. sanguinea are perfectly hardy; their leaves appear in March, mature and disappear. The flowers come in the nature of a surprise in August. The former species has a columnar scape 2 to 3 feet tall and a cluster of large, amaryllis-like flowers, of a bright rosy purple, rather attractive in the back row of a garden, but not of first rank. L. sanguinea has a scape 1 ½ to 2 feet, with small orange-red flowers, dull and curious rather than striking. The two former species have the beauty of the nerines, but the two latter have none of this resemblance. Recent names in horticultural literature are: L. incarnata (Sprenger, Naples). Scape 1-1 ¾ ft., bearing 6-12 fls., which are large and widely expanded, pale flesh-colored or bright rose and fragrant; segms. scarcely undulate, not much reflexed. Cent. China. G.W. 10:489.—L. Sprengeri, Comes. Fls. rose-pink or purplish rose, on long pedicels, without perianth-tube; spathe-valves short, ovate. Probably Japan. G.C. III. 32:suppl. Dee. 27. G.W. 10:489. Allied to L. squamigera, but with shorter less pointed spathe-valves; perianth-tube ½ in. long. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Plant bulbs in autumn, with neck of bulb at surface level of soil. Under glass, grow in potting soil under full light. Top-dress when grown begins, then give plenty of water and use balanced fertilizer until leaves die down. Keep dry while dormant (summer). Outdoors, grow in fertile soil with good drainage, under full sun. Protect with dry winter mulch if you are in a marginal cold zone.

Propagation

Sow seeds at 45-54ºF (6-12ºC) as soon as ripe. Remove offsets after flowering.

Pests and diseases

Rare.

Species

Selected species:

Lycoris anhuiensis Y.Xu & G.J.Fan
Lycoris aurea (Golden Spider Lily) (L'Hér.) Herb.
Lycoris caldwellii (Magic Lily) Traub
Lycoris chinensis (Yellow Surprise Lily) Traub
Lycoris guangxiensis Y.Xu & G.J.Fan
Lycoris incarnata (Peppermint Surprise Lily) Comes ex Sprenger
Lycoris longituba (Long Tube Surprise Lily) Y.Xu & G.J.Fan
Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily) (L'Hér.) Herb.
Lycoris sanguinea (Orange Spider Lily) Maxim.
Lycoris shaanxiensis Y.Xu & Z.B.Hu
Lycoris sprengeri (Tie Dye Surprise Lily) Comes ex Baker
Lycoris squamigera (Naked Lady, Surprise Lily, Magic Lily, Resurrection Lily) Maxim.
Lycoris straminea Lindl.

Hybrids

Lycoris × albiflora (White Spider Lily) Koidz. (natural hybrid, parentage uncertain)
Lycoris × houdyshelii (Surprise Lily) Traub (cultivated hybrid, unknown origin)
Lycoris × rosea Traub & Moldenke (probably L. radiata × L. sprengeri)