Pyrolirion
Genus of flowering plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
| Fire lilies Flame lilies | |
|---|---|
| |
| golden flame lily (Pyrolirion arvense)[1] | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Amaryllidoideae |
| Tribe: | Eustephieae |
| Genus: | Pyrolirion Herb. |
| Species | |
|
See here | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Leucothauma Ravenna | |
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]
- Pyrolirion albicans Herb. – Peru (Arequipa)
- Pyrolirion arvense (F.Dietr.) – Peru (Cusco, Lima)
- Pyrolirion boliviense (Baker) Sealy – Bolivia (Cochabamba, La Paz)
- Pyrolirion cutleri (Cárdenas) Ravenna – Bolivia (Cochabamba)
- Pyrolirion flavum Herb. – Peru (Cusco, Lima)
- Pyrolirion huantae Ravenna – Peru
- Pyrolirion tarahuasicum Ravenna – Peru
- Pyrolirion tubiflorum (L'Hér.) M.Roem. – Peru, Chile, Ecuador