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Lycoris radiata

Common name:	Spider Lily	Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Author:	(L'Hé r.)Herb.	Botanical references:	58, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The bulb contains toxins and must be leached before it is used for food[105, 218]. Bulbs contain 2 inactive alkaloids[179].
Range:	E. Asia - South-eastern China and southern Japan.
Habitat:	By cultivated fields and in meadows in the lowland and hills of C. and S. Japan[58].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Amaryllis radiata[G,H] Amaryllis sarniensis[H] Nerine japonica[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Higan-Bana [E], I Chih Chien [E], Lao Ya Suan [E], Magic Lily [P], Magic-lily [B], Nd [E], Shih Suan [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	radiat = radiating
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Japan

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.5m by 0.1m . It is hardy to zone 3. It is in leaf from September to July, in flower in August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 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 moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

By Walls, By South Wall.

Edible Uses

Root.

Bulb - cooked. It is used as a source of starch[105, 177, 179]. The bulb is 2.5 to 3.5cm in diameter[200]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cancer Emetic Expectorant Poultice.

The root is used in the treatment of swellings, ulcers and the nervous afflictions of children[218].
The bulb is emetic and expectorant[61, 174, 218], a decoction is used to counteract poison[218] and is also applied to ulcers and swellings[178, 218]. The bulb can be made into a plaster and is then applied to burns and scalds[240].
The plant is said to have anticancer properties[218].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a deep well-drained sandy soil rich in organic matter in full sun[200].
This species is hardy to at least -15° c[200]. Other reports say that the bulb tolerates soil temperatures down to about -5° c[214, 260]. This is a difficult plant to grow outdoors in temperate areas, the plant comes into growth in late summer, flowers in the autumn and the leaves then persist until the following summer when the plant will have a short period of dormancy. These leaves can be killed by hard frosts and, should this happen often, the bulb will be weakened and killed[200, 260]. Plants therefore require a sheltered position to avoid damage to the growing leaves in the winter[200]. Plants need a warm period in late summer in order to ripen the bulbs and induce flowering in the following year[188].
Plants are attractive to slugs and need to be protected from them[200].
Very sensitive to root disturbance, the bulbs can take some years to become well established[200].
This plant is superficially similar to Nerine sarnensis and is often confused with that species[200].

Propagation

The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse and should germinate in the spring[200]. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not need to be disturbed for its first year of growth. Give an occasional liquid feed during the growing season to ensure the plants do not become nutrient deficient. Pot up the small bulbs when the plants become dormant, placing 2 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another 2 years in the greenhouse before planting them out when they are dormant.
Division of offsets in the dormant season[200].

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Amaryllidaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

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

References

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[174] Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.
A good Japanese herbal.

[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.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[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.

[214] Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. Royal Horticultural Society 1994 ISBN 1352-4186
A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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