''Zephyranthes rosea'', commonly known as the Cuban zephyrlily, rosy rain lily, rose fairy lily, rose zephyr lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of

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

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and Colombia. They are widely cultivated as

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

s and have become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

in tropical regions worldwide. Like all rain lilies, they are known for blooming only after heavy rains. They contain potentially lethal

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. Toxins occur especially as a protein or conjugated protein. The term toxin was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849 ...

Description

Zephyranthes rosea (Mindanao, Philippines) 2

''Zephyranthes rosea'' are

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

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 ...

monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute on ...

s. They are small plants, reaching only in height. They bear five to six narrow and flattened dark green linear leaves, about wide, from spherical

tunicate A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...

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 du ...

s around in diameter. The single funnel-shaped flowers are borne erect or slightly inclined on scapes around long. The

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

s are around long and slightly divided only at the tip. The fragrant six-

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

ed flowers are around in diameter and in length. The

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ca ...

is bright pink with a green central perianth tube that is less than long. The six stamens are of different lengths – one of , one of , and four between . They are shorter than the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

and inserted at the mouth of the perianth. The anthers are long. The flowers develop into capsules that are divided deeply into three lobes. The seeds are shiny black and flattened.

Classification

''Zephyranthes rosea'' belongs to the genus ''

Zephyranthes ''Zephyranthes'' is a genus of temperate and tropical plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, native to the Western Hemisphere and widely cultivated as ornamentals. Following the expansion of the genus in 2019, which now ...

'' (rain lilies) of the

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants). The early use of this word is from 19th century. An example of subtribe i ...

Zephyranthinea Zephyranthinae was a subtribe of plants classified under the tribe Hippeastreae. It belonged to the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). They are generally small plants with solitary flowers. Spathes are fused formi ...

of the

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

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 ...

. It is classified under the subfamily

Amaryllidoideae Amaryllidoideae (Amaryllidaceae ''s.s.'', amaryllids) is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. The most recent APG classification, APG III, takes a broad view of the Amaryllidaceae, which then ...

of the Amaryllis 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 ...

). In broader classifications, they are sometimes included within the lily 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 f ...

Nomenclature

''Zephyranthes rosea'' (like other rain lilies) are so named because they produce short-lived flowers only after seasonal heavy rains or storms. In ''Z. rosea'', this usually occurs during the late summer. The generic name ''Zephyranthes'' literally means "flowers of the west wind", from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

ζέφυρος (''zéphuros'', an

Anemoi In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons a ...

) and ἄνθος (''anthos'', 'flower').

Zephyrus #REDIRECT Anemoi#Zephyrus%20(Favonius) {{wikidata redirect Greek gods Greek legendary creatures Wind deities Characters in Greek mythology LGBT themes in Greek mythology ...

, the Greek personification of the

west wind A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction. Mythology and Literature In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds. In Greek mythology, ...

, is also associated with rainfall. The specific name comes from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for 'rosy'. Other common names of ''Z. rosea'' include 'pink rain lily', 'pink fairy lily', 'pink magic lily', 'pink zephyr lily', 'rain flower', and 'rose rain lily'. It is also commonly known as ''duende rojo'' ('red dwarf') and ''leli de San Jose'' in Spanish; and ''rosafarbene'' and ''Windblume'' in German. ''Zephyranthes rosea'' is one of the two ''Zephyranthes'' species known as the '

pink rain lily Pink rain lily, pink fairy lily, pink zephyr lily, and pink magic lily are the common names of several species of flowering plants belonging to the genera '' Zephyranthes'' and '' Habranthus'' (rain lilies): *''Zephyranthes carinata ''Zephyr ...

'. The other species is '' Zephyranthes carinata'', usually referred to incorrectly as ''Zephyranthes grandiflora''. ''Z. carinata'' is often mislabeled as ''Z. rosea'' by merchants. ''Z. carinata'' can be distinguished from true ''Z. rosea'' by their much larger flowers with a deeper pink coloration. ''Z. rosea'' also has 24

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

s in

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respecti ...

somatic cell A somatic cell (from Ancient Greek σῶμα ''sôma'', meaning "body"), or vegetal cell, is any biological cell forming the body of a multicellular organism other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte or undifferentiated stem cell. Such cells co ...

s, in contrast to 48 in ''Z. carinata''. Another similar species known under the same common names is ''

Zephyranthes robusta ''Zephyranthes robusta'', synonym ''Habranthus robustus'', commonly known as the Brazilian copperlily, pink fairy lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of herbaceous flowering bulb. It is native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay,, p. 101 but i ...

''. They can be differentiated from ''Z. rosea'' by having paler pink and larger flowers.

Distribution and habitat

''Zephyranthes rosea'' is

and Colombia. It is widely planted in warmer regions around the world and is reportedly naturalized in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

, many of the islands of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and Indian Oceans They are common in recently disturbed land and grassy areas (like lawns and meadows) that receive periodical rainfall.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Uses

''Zephyranthes rosea'' are usually propagated by dividing clumps of bulbs, but can also be grown from seeds. They are widely cultivated as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s. They are relatively low-maintenance, becoming dormant during extended periods of drought. They are less tolerant of colder temperatures than other species of ''Zephyranthes'', however. In

, they are also used in

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

, along with ''

Zephyranthes flava ''Zephyranthes'' is a genus of temperate and tropical plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, native to the Western Hemisphere and widely cultivated as ornamentals. Following the expansion of the genus in 2019, which no ...

''.

Toxicity

The

s of ''Z. rosea'', like other members of ''Zephyranthes'' and ''Habranthus'', contain various toxic alkaloids including

lycorine Lycorine is a toxic crystalline alkaloid found in various Amaryllidaceae species, such as the cultivated bush lily ('' Clivia miniata''), surprise lilies ('' Lycoris''), and daffodils (''Narcissus''). It may be highly poisonous, or even lethal, w ...

and

haemanthamine Haemanthamine is a crinine-like alkaloid from the 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 f ...

. They can cause vomiting, convulsions, and death to humans, livestock, and poultry.

Pests and diseases

Pests of ''Z. rosea'' include chewing insects. They are also vulnerable to the necrotrophic fungus ''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q932524

rosea Rosea may refer to: * a Latin adjective meaning rose, rosy or pink * a synonym for Rhosus, a Roman Catholic titular see * a hamlet of the municipality of Brunello, Italy * a character in the Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume videogame S ...

Garden plants Plants described in 1824 Flora of Colombia Flora of Peru