Fire lilies Flame lilies | |
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golden flame lily ( Pyrolirion arvense ) [1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
Subfamily: | Amaryllidoideae |
Tribe: | Eustephieae |
Genus: | Pyrolirion Herb. |
Species | |
See here | |
Synonyms [2] | |
LeucothaumaRavenna |
Pyrolirion, commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies, [3] is a small genus of herbaceous, [4] bulbous [5] South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia, [6] [7] and Ecuador. [8]
Pyrolirion are bulbous, [5] herbs [4] with tunicate bulbs [9] and slim, [10] annual, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves. [11] The bulbs produce offsets. [12] [13]
The white, [13] orange or yellow flowers [12] are borne erect on solitary hollow scapes. The perigone is funnel-shaped, with a cylindrical tube that flares out abruptly into star-like radially arranged (actinomorphic) petals. Small scale-like "paraperigone" may be present at the base. [11] The flower has 6 tepals. [10] The androecium consists of 6 stamens. [14] [9] The stamens arise from or below the throat. [11] The gynoecium consists of 3 carpels. [9] The style has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas. [11] The capsule fruit bears discoid, [15] compressed, black seeds with a white raphe. [11]
Various chromosome counts have been reported: 2n = 26, 34, 51, 54. [11]
The genus Pyrolirion was first established by the British botanist William Herbert in 1837. [16] The name Pyrolirion is from Greek πῦρ (pyr, "fire") and λείριον (leirion, "lily"). It is named after the flame-like colors of the flowers of Pyrolirion arvense (the golden flame lily). [17] [18]
Pyrolirion is classified under the tribe Eustephieae of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae, family Amaryllidaceae. It was previously sometimes considered by some authors as a subgenus of Zephyranthes (rain lilies), but DNA sequencing has shown that it is a distinct genus more closely related to the genera Chlidanthus , Eustephia , and Hieronymiella in the tribe Eustephieae than to members of the tribe Hippeastreae. [19] [20]
The species-level classification of Pyrolirion is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015) [2] [21] [22]
It is not widely cultivated. [23] It requires a period of dormancy in winter. [12] [5]
Pyrolirion.