''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as India and Sri Lanka. The formerly accepted genera ''Eucharis'' and ''Caliphruria'' are now regarded as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of this genus. Many species of this genus share the common name Amazon lily.

Taxonomy

In 1821, William Herbert published the genus name ''Urceolaria'' and transferred ''Crinum urceolatum'' to the genus as ''Urceolaria pendula''. However, Herbert's name was

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

since the genus name had already been published in 1786 when it was attributed to

Juan Ignacio Molina Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean-Spanish Jesuit priest, natural history, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Moli ...

. (Molina's name was later rejected in favour of '' Sarmienta''.) In 1828,

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist, ornithologist and illustrator. It was he who first requested Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate m ...

used the name ''Urceolina'' for the genus. This is now a conserved name with the type species being ''

Urceolina urceolata ''Urceolina urceolata'' is a Perennial plant, perennial plant species in the family Amaryllidaceae. The species is native to Peru. Plants can reach up to 20 or 30 centimeters in height. The species was first described and named by Hipólito Rui ...

'' based on ''Crinum urceolatum''.

Phylogeny

''Urceolina'' is placed in the tribe

Eucharideae ''Eucharideae'' is a tribe of plants within the family Amaryllidaceae. It was augmented in 2000 by Meerow ''et al.'' following a molecular phylogenetic study that revealed that many elements of the tribe Stenomesseae segregated with it, rather ...

. ''Eucharis'', whose flower has a conspicuous staminal cup (which is different from the corona of ''Narcissus''), and ''Caliphruria'', whose staminal cup is heavily reduced, were formerly regarded as separate genera within the tribe. A 2020

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study showed that these two genera (excluding ''C. korsakoffii'') form a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

clade with ''Urceolina'' sensu stricto, sister to '' Stenomesson'': The clade showed extensive ancestral reticulation. The authors of the study placed all the species belonging to the clade in an expanded ''Urceolina''.

Species

Species of the former genera ''Eucharis'' and ''Caliphruria'' (except ''C. korsakoffii'', now '' Stenomesson korsakoffii'') as well as ''Eucrosia dodsonii'' (now '' Urceolina dodsonii'') have been transferred to this genus. Therefore, ''Urceolina'' includes the following species: *''

Urceolina amazonica ''Urceolina amazonica'', formerly known as ''Eucharis amazonica'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Peru. It is cultivated as an ornamental in many countries and naturalized in Venezuela, Mexico, the West Ind ...

'' (Linden ex Planch.) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis amazonica'' Linden ex Planch.) *''

Urceolina astrophiala ''Urceolina astrophiala'', formerly known as ''Eucharis astrophiala'', is a species of plant which is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.Ra ...

'' Ravenna (= ''Eucharis astrophiala'' (Ravenna) Ravenna) *''

Urceolina ayacucensis ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' Ravenna *''

Urceolina bakeriana ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the Amaryllidaceae, amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states ...

'' (N.E.Br.) Traub (= ''Eucharis bakeriana'' N.E.Br.) *''

Urceolina bonplandii ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' (Kunth) Traub (= ''Eucharis bonplandii'' (Kunth) Traub) *''

Urceolina bouchei ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' (Woodson & P.Allen) Traub (= ''Eucharis bouchei'' Woodson & P.Allen) *''

Urceolina candida ''Urceolina candida'', formerly known as ''Eucharis candida'', is a plant species native to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru but cultivated as an ornamental in many other regions. This plant is a bulb-forming her with broadly lanceolate to elliptical ...

'' (Planch. & Linden) Traub (= ''Eucharis candida'' Planch. & Linden) *''

Urceolina castelnaeana ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' (Baill.) Traub (= ''Eucharis castelnaeana'' (Baill.) J.F.Macbr.) *''

Urceolina caucana ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' (Meerow) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis caucana'' Meerow) *''

Urceolina corynandra ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' Ravenna (= ''Eucharis corynandra'' (Ravenna) Ravenna) *'' Urceolina cuzcoensis'' Vargas *'' Urceolina cyaneosperma'' (Meerow) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis cyaneosperma'' Meerow) *'' Urceolina dodsonii'' (Meerow & Dehgan) Meerow (= ''Eucrosia dodsonii'' Meerow & Dehgan) *'' Urceolina formosa'' (Meerow) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis formosa'' Meerow) *''

Urceolina fulva ''Urceolina'' is a genus of South American plants in the amaryllis family native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. It has also been introduced to many South and Central American states, as well as In ...

'' Herb. *'' Urceolina hartwegiana'' (Herb.) Traub (= ''Caliphruria hartwegiana'' Herb.) *'' Urceolina latifolia'' (Herb.) Benth. & Hook.f. *'' Urceolina lehmannii'' (Regel) Traub (= ''Eucharis lehmannii'' Regel) *'' Urceolina microcrater'' Kraenzl. *'' Urceolina moorei'' (Baker) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis moorei'' (Baker) Meerow) *'' Urceolina oxyandra'' Ravenna (= ''Eucharis oxyandra'' (Ravenna) Ravenna) *'' Urceolina plicata'' (Meerow) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis plicata'' Meerow) *'' Urceolina robledoana'' (Vargas) Traub *'' Urceolina ruthiana'' (L.Jost, Oleas & Meerow) Christenh. & Byng (= ''Eucharis ruthiana'' L.Jost, Oleas & Meerow) *'' Urceolina sanderi'' (Baker) Traub (= ''Eucharis sanderi'' Baker) *'' Urceolina subedentata'' (Baker) Traub (= ''Caliphruria subedentata'' Baker) *'' Urceolina tenera'' (Baker) Traub (= ''Caliphruria tenera'' Baker) *'' Urceolina ulei'' (Kraenzl.) Traub (= ''Eucharis ulei'' Kraenzl.) *''

'' (Ruiz & Pav.) Asch. & Graebn.

Hybrids

* ''Urceolina'' × ''butcheri'' (Traub) Traub (= × ''Calicharis butcheri'' (Traub) Meerow) * ''Urceolina'' × ''clibranii'' (Mast.) Traub (= × ''Urceocharis clibranii'' Mast.) * ''Urceolina'' × ''edentata'' (C.H.Wright) Traub (= × ''Urceocharis edentata'' C.H.Wright) * ''Urceolina'' × ''grandiflora'' (Planch. & Linden) Traub (= ''Eucharis'' × ''grandiflora'' Planch. & Linden) * ''Eucharis'' × ''stevensii'' W.Stevens ex N.E.Br. 南美水仙 Eucharis x grandiflora -香港公園 Hong Kong Park- (9229859750).jpg, ''Urceolina amazonica'' Eucharis formosa (20264012823).jpg, ''Urceolina formosa'' Eucharis × grandiflora.jpg, ''Urceolina'' × ''grandiflora'' Eucharis lowii 142-8646.jpg, ''Urceolina'' × ''grandiflora'' Eucharis plicata (8445011742).jpg, ''Urceolina plicata'' Eucrosia morleyana - Denver Botanic Gardens - DSC00932.JPG, ''Urceolina subedentata''

Conservation status

Many of the species of the genus are endangered. For example, ''Urceolina hartwegiana'' and ''U. subedentata'' are

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

by extinction, and ''U. tenera'' is listed as extinct.

Cultivation and uses

'', ''U.'' × ''grandiflora'', and '' U. subedentata'' are the best-known and most generally cultivated species. It is propagated by removing the offsets, which may be done in spring, potting them singly in 15 cm pots. It requires good

loamy Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

soil, with enough

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

to keep the compost open, and should have a good supply of water. A temperature of 18° to 20 °C during the night, and rising to 25 °C in the day. During summer growth is to be encouraged by repotting, but the plants should afterwards be slightly rested by removal to a night temperature of about 15 °C, water being withheld for a time, though they must not be left dry for too long, the plant being an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

. By the turn of the year they may again have more heat and more water, and this will probably induce them to flower. With a stock of the smaller plants to start them in succession, it is possible to have plants in flower all the year round.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10388241 Amaryllidaceae genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach