Pyrolirion, commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies,[3] is a small genus of herbaceous,[4] bulbous[5] South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia,[6][7] and Ecuador.[8]

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Pyrolirion are bulbous,[5] herbs[4] with tunicate bulbs[9] and slim,[10] annual, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves.[11] The bulbs produce offsets.[12][13]

Generative characteristics

The white,[13] orange or yellow flowers[12] 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) petals. Small scale-like "paraperigone" may be present at the base.[11] The flower has 6 tepals.[10] The androecium consists of 6 stamens.[14][9] The stamens arise from or below the throat.[11] The gynoecium consists of 3 carpels.[9] The style has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas.[11] The capsule fruit bears discoid,[15] compressed, black seeds with a white raphe.[11]

Cytology

Various chromosome counts have been reported: 2n = 26, 34, 51, 54.[11]

Taxonomy

The genus Pyrolirion was first established by the British botanist William Herbert in 1837.[16] The name Pyrolirion is from Greek 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).[17][18]

Pyrolirion is classified under the tribe Eustephieae of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae, family Amaryllidaceae. It was previously sometimes considered by some authors as a subgenus of Zephyranthes (rain lilies), but DNA sequencing has shown that it is a distinct genus more closely related to the genera Chlidanthus, Eustephia, and Hieronymiella in the tribe Eustephieae than to members of the tribe Hippeastreae.[19][20]

Species

The species-level classification of Pyrolirion is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015)[2][21][22]

  1. Pyrolirion albicans Herb.Peru (Arequipa)
  2. Pyrolirion arvense (F.Dietr.) – Peru (Cusco, Lima)
  3. Pyrolirion boliviense (Baker) Sealy Bolivia (Cochabamba, La Paz)
  4. Pyrolirion cutleri (Cárdenas) Ravenna – Bolivia (Cochabamba)
  5. Pyrolirion flavum Herb. – Peru (Cusco, Lima)
  6. Pyrolirion huantae Ravenna – Peru
  7. Pyrolirion tarahuasicum Ravenna – Peru
  8. Pyrolirion tubiflorum (L'Hér.) M.Roem. – Peru, Chile, Ecuador

Cultivation

It is not widely cultivated.[23] It requires a period of dormancy in winter.[12][5]

References

  1. ^ 1835 illustration from Edwards's Botanical Register; Consisting of Coloured Figures of Exotic Plants Cultivated in British Gardens; with their History and Mode of Treatment. London 20: t. 1724. As Pyrolirion aureum
  2. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ^ Pyrolirion fire lily. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/160769/pyrolirion/details
  4. ^ a b Pyrolirion. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://eol.org/pages/30182
  5. ^ a b c Rand, E. S. (1873). Bulbs: A Treatise on Hardy and Tender Bulbs and Tubers. p. 210. USA: Shepard and Gill.
  6. ^ Herbert, William 1821. Appendix to Botanical Register, page 37
  7. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-af). Pyrolirion Herb. Tropicos. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40021379
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ a b c Lemaire, C. A. (1854). Le Jardin fleuriste: journal général des progrés et des intérets horticoles et botaniques .... Belgien: F. et E. Gyselynck.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ a b c d e f A.W. Meerow & D.A. Snijman (1998). "Amaryllidaceae". In Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). Flowering plants, Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae). Vol. III. Springer. p. 103. ISBN 978-3-540-64060-8.
  12. ^ a b c Henderson, P. (1881). Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture. p. 182. USA: (n.p.).
  13. ^ a b Howard, T. M. (2010). Bulbs for Warm Climates. p. 128. Deutschland: University of Texas Press.
  14. ^ Sweet, R., Don, G. (1839). Hortus Britannicus. p. 675. Vereinigtes Königreich: J. Ridgway.
  15. ^ Just's botanischer jahresbericht: Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder. p. 21. (1882). Deutschland: Gebr. Borntraeger.
  16. ^ William Herbert (1863). Amaryllidaceae: preceded by an attempt to arrange the monocotyledonous orders, and followed by a treatise on cross-bred vegetables, and supplement. James Ridgway & Sons. pp. 183–185.
  17. ^ David H. McNicoll (1863). Dictionary of natural history terms with their derivations: including the various orders, genera, and species. Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 435. Pyrolirion.
  18. ^ David Gledhill (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
  19. ^ "Hippeastreae" (in French). Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB). Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  20. ^ "Pyrolirion". Pacific Bulb Society. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  21. ^ "Pyrolirion" (in French). Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB). Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  22. ^ "Pyrolirion". The Plant List: A working list of all plant species. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  23. ^ Cowley, J. (1989). 127. Pyrolirion tubiflorum: Amaryllidaceae. The Kew Magazine, 6(3), 95-101.
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