''Pyrolirion'', commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies,''Pyrolirion'' fire lily. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/160769/pyrolirion/details is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

, bulbous

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n plants in the Amaryllis family, native to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

,Herbert, William 1821. Appendix to Botanical Register, page 37Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-af). ''Pyrolirion'' Herb. Tropicos. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40021379 and Ecuador.Oleas, N. H., Jost, L., Zambrano, R., Torres, C. G., Heredia, J., Bustamante, M., ... & Quintana, C. (2025)
First records of the genus ''Pyrolirion'' Herb.(Liliopsida, Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae) in Ecuador.
Check List, 21(1), 142-147.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Pyrolirion'' are bulbous,Rand, E. S. (1873).
Bulbs: A Treatise on Hardy and Tender Bulbs and Tubers.
p. 210. USA: Shepard and Gill. herbs''Pyrolirion''. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://eol.org/pages/30182 with tunicate bulbsLemaire, C. A. (1854).
Le Jardin fleuriste: journal général des progrés et des intérets horticoles et botaniques ....
�Belgien: F. et E. Gyselynck. and slim, annual, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves. The bulbs produce offsets.

Generative characteristics

The white,Howard, T. M. (2010).
Bulbs for Warm Climates.
p. 128. Deutschland: University of Texas Press. orange or yellow flowersHenderson, P. (1881).
Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture.
p. 182. USA: (n.p.). are borne erect on solitary hollow scapes. The perigone is funnel-shaped, with a cylindrical tube that flares out abruptly into star-like radially arranged (actinomorphic)

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s. Small scale-like "paraperigone" may be present at the base. The flower has 6 tepals.Kosteletzky, V. F. (1831).
Allgemeine medizinisch-pharmazeutische Flora, enthaltend die systematische Aufzählung und Beschreibung sämmtlicher bis jetzt bekannt gewordenen Gewächse aller Welttheile in ihrer Beziehung auf Diätetik, Therapie und Pharmazie nach den natürlichen Familien des Gewächsreiches geordnet.
p. 143. Deutschland: Hoff. The androecium consists of 6 stamens.Sweet, R., Don, G. (1839).
Hortus Britannicus.
p. 675. Vereinigtes Königreich: J. Ridgway. The

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s arise from or below the throat. The gynoecium consists of 3 carpels. The

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas. The capsule fruit bears discoid,Just's botanischer jahresbericht: Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder.
p. 21. (1882). Deutschland: Gebr. Borntraeger. compressed, black seeds with a white

raphe Raphe ( ; from ;Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. : raphae or raphes) has several differe ...

Cytology

Various chromosome counts have been reported: 2n = 26, 34, 51, 54.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Pyrolirion'' was first established by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

William Herbert in 1837. The name ''Pyrolirion'' is from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

πῦρ (''pyr'', "fire") and λείριον (''leirion'', "lily"). It is named after the flame-like colors of the flowers of '' Pyrolirion arvense'' (the golden flame lily). ''Pyrolirion'' is classified under the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Eustephieae Eustephieae is a flowering plant tribe in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It forms part of the Andean clade, one of two clades in The Americas. Description Vegetative characteristics Eustephieae are bulbous plants with ofte ...

of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Amaryllidoideae Amaryllidoideae (Amaryllidaceae ''s.s.'', amaryllids) is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae, Order (biology), order Asparagales. The most recent Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG classification, A ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. It was previously sometimes considered by some authors as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''

Zephyranthes ''Zephyranthes'' is a genus of temperate and tropical bulbous plants in the Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, native to the Americas and widely cultivated as ornamentals. Following the expansion of the genus in ...

'' (rain lilies), but DNA sequencing has shown that it is a distinct genus more closely related to the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

'' Chlidanthus'', '' Eustephia'', and ''

Hieronymiella ''Hieronymiella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Amaryllis family. It is native to Bolivia, north-western Argentina,Pax, F. A. (1890)Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Amaryllidaceae.Botanische Jahrbücher Fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte Und P ...

'' in the tribe Eustephieae than to members of the tribe

Hippeastreae Hippeastreae is a tribe of plants belonging to the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Species in this tribe are distributed in South America. Flowers are large and showy, zygomorphic, with the stamens in varying ...

Species

The species-level classification of ''Pyrolirion'' is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015) # '' Pyrolirion albicans'' Herb. –

(

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

) # '' Pyrolirion arvense'' ( F.Dietr.) – Peru (

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

) # '' Pyrolirion boliviense'' (Baker) Sealy –

(

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

) # '' Pyrolirion cutleri'' (Cárdenas) Ravenna – Bolivia (Cochabamba) # '' Pyrolirion flavum'' Herb. – Peru (Cusco, Lima) # ''

Pyrolirion huantae ''Pyrolirion'', commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies,''Pyrolirion'' fire lily. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/160769/pyrolirion/details is a small genus of herbaceous ...

'' Ravenna – Peru # '' Pyrolirion tarahuasicum'' Ravenna – Peru # ''

Pyrolirion tubiflorum ''Pyrolirion tubiflorum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is a perennial bulbous geophyte distributed in Peru, North Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It ...

'' (L'Hér.) M.Roem. – Peru, Chile, Ecuador

Cultivation

It is not widely cultivated.Cowley, J. (1989)
127. ''Pyrolirion tubiflorum'': Amaryllidaceae.
The Kew Magazine, 6(3), 95-101. It requires a period of dormancy in winter.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5813086 Amaryllidoideae Amaryllidaceae genera Flora of Southern America Flora of Ecuador Flora of Chile Flora of Peru Flora of Bolivia Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist)