''Plagiolirion'' is a monotypic genus in the family

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...

endemic to Colombia. It has only one known species, ''Plagiolirion horsmannii'', which is rare in the wild and was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in the Río Cauca Valley in 1989.Alan W. Meerow and Philip Silverstone-Sopkin. 1995. The rediscovery of ''Plagiolirion horsmannii'' Baker (Amaryllidaceae) Brittonia 47(4): 426-431
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Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Plagiolirion horsmannii'' is a bulbous,The Gardeners' Chronicle: A Weekly Illustrated Journal of Horticulture and Allied Subjects.
p. 105. (1883). Vereinigtes Königreich: Gardeners Chronicle. perennial herb with subglobose or ovoid, tunicate, 5–6 cm long, and 5–5.5 cm wide bulbs with fleshy roots. The bulbs have offsets at the base.

Generative characteristics

The scapose, umbellate inflorescences with a terete, solid, erect, glaucous green, 49–66 cm long, and 0.5 cm wide scape, bears 10–41 white,Wiener illustrirte Garten-Zeitung: Organ d. K. K. Gartenbau-Gesellschaft in Wien.
p. 94. (1884). Österreich: Frick. zygomorphic, inodorous, protrandrous, pedicellate, 2.5–3 cm long, and 3–4 cm wide flowers. The thin pedicels are 1.5–2 cm long.

Cytology

The diploid chromosome number of ''Plagiolirion horsmannii'' is 2n = 46.Silverstone-Sopkin, P. A. (2011)
Los muertos vivientes: La historia natural de cuatro lirios amazónicos del suroccidente de Colombia (Eucharis y Plagiolirion, Amaryllidaceae).
pp. 24–25. Universidad del Valle.

Taxonomy

The genus and species were first described by

John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an England, English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née ...

in 1883.Baker, J. G. (1883)
''Plagiolirion horsmannii''.
Gard. Chron, 2(38), 1888. The genus 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 ...

.''Plagiolirion''. (n.d.). Pacific Bulb Society. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Plagiolirion

Etymology

The generic name ''Plagiolirion'', from ''plagios'' meaning 'oblique' and ''leirion'' meaning 'lily',Weathers, J. (2009).
The Bulb Book.
p. 398. USA: Applewood Books. is derived from the floral morphology. The specific epithet ''horsmannii'' honours Fred Horsman,The Garden: An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Gardening in All Its Branches.
p. 42. (1884). Vereinigtes Königreich: (n.p.). who imported the species to Colchester, United Kingdom.Weathers, J. (1890)
''Plagiolirion horsmannii''.
Gardeners’ Chronicle, p. 262.

Ecology

Habitat

It occurs in the Colombian Andes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9060363, from2=Q15523623, from3=Q110989695, from4=Q110986156 Monotypic Amaryllidaceae genera Endemic flora of Colombia Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker Amaryllidoideae Plants described in 1883