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Hesperocallis undulata

Common name:	Desert Lily	Family:	Agavaceae
Author:	A.Gray.	Botanical references:	71, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America,
Habitat:	Dry sandy flats and gentle slopes below 750 metres in deserts and creosote bush scrub[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Desert-lily [B], Desertlily [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	undulata = wavy edged
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Liliales. Century-plant family

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.3m by 0.15m . It is hardy to zone 9. It is in flower from February to March. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Root.

Bulb - raw or cooked[2, 71, 161, 177, 257]. The bulbs can be baked or boiled[257]. Quite large, the bulb is up to 5cm in diameter[71] and is found up to 50cm below soil level[245].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a very well-drained soil in a sunny position[200]. Plants are intolerant of temperatures below freezing, especially if this is coupled with wetness[200]. The bulbs like plenty of moisture when in growth in the spring[188] but must be kept dry when they are dormant[200].
This species is not very hardy in Britain, it is best grown in a cold greenhouse or treated as a half-hardy annual[1], though they can succeed outdoors in very sheltered parts of south-west Britain[245]. Plants are very difficult to induce into flower in Britain and are best grown in a greenhouse in almost pure sand with some leafmold. Water should be withheld in the summer[42].
The flowers open in the evening and scent the air around them[245].
Bulbs are often found at a great depth in the soil[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow in late winter or as soon as ripe in a deep pot in a very free draining compost in a greenhouse. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not have to be pricked out, and grow the young seedlings on without disturbance for their first 2 years - give them very little water during their dormant period, merely making sure that the compost does not dry out completely. Divide the young bulbs up into individual deep pots when they have completed their second growing season and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least another year before planting them out during their dormant period.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers open in the evening and scent the air around them.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for hesperocallis undulata (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[42] Grey. C. H. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate. 1938
Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Hesperocallis+undulata
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