''Eucrosia mirabilis'' is a species of plant from Ecuador. In the original scientific description in 1869, it was believed to be from Peru, but there is little evidence it ever grew there. The plant disappeared from cultivation until it was found in Ecuador in 1997. Its natural habitats are seasonally dry lowland areas to elevations of 1500 m. It grows 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 duri ...

s around 7 cm in diameter. One to three blue-green stalked (

petiolate Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, a ...

) leaves appear after flowering, with blades (laminae) 40 cm long by 20 cm wide. About 30 zygomorphic flowers, which are yellow-green, are produced in an umbel on a 60–90 cm tall stem (scape); the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s have prominent long white filaments. In its natural habitat, flowering is August to December. The flowers are thought to be adapted for butterfly pollination, but a single report of hummingbird visitation is recorded for this species. In cultivation, plants should be kept warm and dry when the leaves wither, and watered only when the flowers or leaves begin to grow again, when a sunny position is required.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5406305 Flora of Ecuador mirabilis Taxa named by Ferdinand Albin Pax Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker