''Crinum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of about 180 species of

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s that have large showy

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s on leafless stems, and develop from

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs dur ...

s. They are found in seasonally moist areas, including marshes, swamps, depressions and along the sides of streams and lakes in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide.

Description

''Crinum'' leaves are basal, typically long and strap-shaped, with colors ranging from light green to green. Cytological studies have shown some 27 species of Crinum to be

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectiv ...

with a normal chromosome count of 2n = 22. Abilio Fernandes found that the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

Crinum bulbispermum ''Crinum bulbispermum'' is a herbaceous plant native to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. It is naturalized in the Lesser Antilles, Honduras, Cuba, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina. ''Crinum bulbispermum'' ...

'' had a count of 2n = 66, and some desert ''

Crinum macowanii ''Crinum macowanii'' is a species of flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae family. It is a deciduous bulbous plant species native to Africa that has been used in traditional medicine throughout southern Africa. Names The species name ''macowan ...

'' 2n = 44. These

polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set conta ...

species produce seeds that are often parthenogenetic triploid or diploids, lack vigour and seldom grow to mature plants.

Taxonomy

, the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

lists 105 species of ''Crinum''. Amongst these are: *'' Crinum americanum'' L. – southern swamplily, seven sisters *'' Crinum asiaticum'' L. – poisonbulb *''

'' (Burm.f.) Milne-Redh. & Schweick. – hardy swamplily *''

Crinum latifolium ''Crinum latifolium'' is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). It arises from an underground bulb. The flowering stems are stout, reaching about 2 m in height. The leaves are long, linear and ligu ...

'' L. *''

'' Baker *''

Crinum moorei ''Crinum moorei'' is a herbaceous plant belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, and native to South Africa (the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal). Taxonomy Synonyms *Homotypic **''Amaryllis moorei'' ( Hook.f.) *Heterotypic **''Crinum imbricatu ...

'' Hook.f. *''

Crinum pedunculatum ''Crinum pedunculatum'' also known as the swamp lily, river lily or mangrove lily, is a bulbous perennial found in stream and tidal areas of the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, Australia as well as New Guinea and some Pacif ...

'' R.Br., syn. ''C. asiaticum'' var. ''pedunculatum'' – swamplily, river lily or spider lily *''

Crinum thaianum ''Crinum thaianum'', Common name Thai Onion plant or Water onion, is an emergent plant species endemic to coastal plain of southern Thailand in Ranong and Phang Nga Provinces. Its natural habitat is along the banks of running streams, where its r ...

'' Schulze – onion plant *''

Crinum viviparum ''Crinum viviparum''Ansari R, Nair VJ (1988) ''J. Econ. Taxon. Bot.'' 11: 205. is a Monocot plant species in the family Amaryllidaceae; no subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life. Distribution and description ''Crinum viviparum'' is wid ...

'' (Lam.) R.Ansari & V.J.Nair – Indian Subcontinent to Indo-China

Formerly placed here

*''

Agapanthus africanus ''Agapanthus africanus'', or the African lily, is a flowering plant from the genus ''Agapanthus'' found only on rocky sandstone slopes of the winter rainfall fynbos from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam. It is also known as the lily-of-the-Nile ...

'' (L.) Hoffmanns. (as ''C. africanum'' L.) *''

Ammocharis heterostyla ''Ammocharis'' is a small genus from sub-Saharan Africa, in the family Amaryllidaceae (subfamily Amaryllidoideae) which includes seven species distributed in Africa. The plant grows as above-ground bulb, preferring seasonally wet, hot, sandy so ...

'' (Bullock) Milne-Redh. & Schweick. (as ''C. heterostylum'' Bullock) *''

Cyrtanthus angustifolius ''Cyrtanthus'' is a genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Taxonomy ''Cyrtanthus'' is the sole genus in the African tribe Cyrtantheae. Phylogeny The placement of Cyrtan ...

'' (L.f.) Aiton (as ''C. angustifolius'' L.f.) *''

Cyrtanthus elatus ''Cyrtanthus elatus'', the Scarborough lily, is a bulbous flowering plant which originates from the Cape Province of South Africa. Other common names are fire lily and George lily. Cultivars of the Scarborough lily have flowers which may be br ...

'' (Jacq.) Traub (as ''C. speciosum'' L.f.) *'' Cyrtanthus obliquus'' (L.f.) Aiton (as ''C. obliquum'' L.f.) *'' Hippeastrum argentinum'' (Pax) Hunz. (as ''C. argentinum'' Pax) *''

Urceolina urceolata ''Urceolina urceolata'' is a perennial plant species in the family Amaryllidaceae. The species is native to Peru. Plants can reach up to 20 or 30 centimeters in heights. The species was first described and the name by Hipólito Ruiz López Hi ...

'' (Ruiz & Pav.) Asch. & Graebn. (as ''C. urceolatum'' Ruiz & Pav.)

Hybrids

* × ''Amarcrinum'' hybridised with

Amaryllis ''Amaryllis'' () is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae (tribe Amaryllideae). It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, ''Amaryllis belladonna'', is a native of the Western Cape region of ...

*''C.'' × ''powellii'' (garden hybrid between ''C. bulbispermum'' and ''C. moorei'') - pale pink, fragrant, lily-like flowers produced in late summer **''C.'' × ''powellii'' 'Album' (white flowered cultivar)

Uses

Several species are used in

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s and in

aquascaping Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Aquascape designs include a number of distinct styl ...

. These include ''

Crinum calamistratum ''Crinum calamistratum'' is an aquatic angiosperm native to Cameroon. It is known by the common names of narrow crinum or African onion plant. The species was first discovered by botanist H. Gregory from a population near Kumba, Cameroon in 1 ...

'', '' Crinum malabaricum'', '' Crinum natans'', and ''

''.

Gallery

Image:Crinum moorei close.jpg, ''Crinum moorei'' Image:Crinum moorei whole.jpg, ''Crinum moorei'' at Strybing Arboretum,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Image:Crinum ornatum MS 1724.jpg, ''Crinum ornatum'', SW

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...

File:Crinum species W IMG_1103.jpg, ''Crinum'' species in

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Ind ...

File:Queen Emma Lily (a0003184).jpg, Queen Emma lily (''Crinum augustum'' or ''Crinum amabile'' var. ''augustum'') in

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

File:Crinum Lily 'Ellen Bosanquet'.jpg, ''Crinum'' 'Ellen Bosanquet'

References

Bibliography

*
online version

External links

*
Pacific Bulb Society Crinum Page, includes links to photographs

Crinums In East Texas: Notes From Marcelle Sheppard, includes links to photographs, cultural information, and hybridizing results

Bulbsociety

The Genus Crinum

Bulb Society

Juniper Level Botanic Garden Crinum Photo Gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q683353 Amaryllidaceae genera Pantropical flora