''Crinum americanum'' is an aquatic angiosperm native to North America from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, as well as

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s for this species include Florida swamp-lily, string lily, and southern swamp crinum. The species grows in small groups in still water habitats. ''Crinum'' species are now members of the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae; they were formerly placed in the family

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fai ...

Etymology

The Latin specific epithet ''americanum'' refers to the plant's native habitat.

Description

''Crinum americanum'' is a perennial

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground 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 duri ...

that can grow up to tall. The plant has simple leaves that are up to long and wide. Flowers are fragrant and lily-like with white petals that can sometimes be blushed pink in color. The flower stem grows up to tall and has two to six flowered

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

s. The upper portion of the stamen is purple and anthers are also purple in color.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to North America from

, as well as

and the

. It grows in freshwater marshes, cypress swamps, and lake edges.

Conservation

As of November 2024,

NatureServe NatureServe, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, US, that provides proprietary wildlife conservation-related data, tools, and services to private and government clients, partner organizations, and ...

listed ''Crinum americanum'' as Secure (G5). This status was last reviewed on 4 August 1988.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5185769

americanum This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants ...

Flora of Texas Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Mexico Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status