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Lycoris squamigera

Common name:	Resurrection Lily	Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Author:	Maxim.	Botanical references:	58, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The bulb contains toxins and must be leached before it is used for food[105].
Range:	E. Asia - Japan.
Habitat:	Edges of cultivated fields[200].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Natu-Zuisen [E], Shan T'Zu Ku [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	squamiger = bearing scales; squamigera = bearing scales;
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.7m by 0.15m . It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from August to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 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 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]. The bulb is 4cm in diameter[200]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a deep well-drained sandy soil rich in organic matter in full sun[200]. The bulb should be planted quite shallowly so that it can ripen well after flowering[245].
Hardy to at least -15°c, the leaves are produced in early spring and persist until late summer[200]. Plants need a warm period in late summer in order to ripen the bulbs and induce flowering in the following year[188].
A very ornamental species, each bulb producing a number of flowering stems in mid to late summer[245]. The flowers are very sweetly scented, the scent pervading the whole garden[245].
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].

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].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers are very sweetly scented[245].

Suppliers

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

Web References

[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.
[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.

[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.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

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?Lycoris+squamigera
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Lycoris+squamigera

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.