Zephyranthinae was a

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 first use of this word dates back to the late 19th century. An example of ...

of plants 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 ...

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 belonged to 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 ...

of the Amaryllis

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 ...

). They are generally small plants with solitary flowers.

Spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

s are fused forming a tube surrounding the

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

of the flower. Most of its members were commonly known as rain lilies. It included four

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 ...

: *''

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 ...

'' Herb. *''Cooperia'' Herb. – now subsumed in ''Zephyranthes'' *''Habranthus'' Herb. – now subsumed in ''Zephyranthes'' *'' Sprekelia'' Heist. - Aztec lilies. Members of the former genus ''Haylockia'' are also now classified under ''Zephyranthes''. '' Pyrolirion'' (fire lilies), once often included under ''Zephyranthes'', is now considered to be a distinct genus and placed in the tribe

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 ...

. Following the application of

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

the subtribe was found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

and subsequently dispersed amongst two other Hippeastreae subtribes.

References

Amaryllidoideae Plant subtribes Historically recognized angiosperm taxa {{Amaryllidaceae-stub