Pyrolirion

Fire lilies Flame lilies
golden flame lily (Pyrolirion arvense)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Amaryllidoideae
Tribe:	Eustephieae
Genus:	Pyrolirion Herb.
Synonyms[2]
Leucothauma Ravenna

Pyrolirion, commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies, is a small genus of herbaceous, bulb-forming South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.^[3][4]

Description

Pyrolirion have thin linear leaves that may be pointed at the tips. The flowers, which can vary in coloration, are borne erect on solitary hollow scapes. The perigone is funnel-shaped, with a cylindrical tube that flares out abruptly to star-like radially arranged (actinomorphic) petals. Small scale-like "paraperigone" may be present at the base.^[5]

The stamens arise from or below the throat. The style has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas. The seeds are laterally compressed, colored black with white seams (raphe).^[5]

Systematics

The genus Pyrolirion was first established by the British botanist William Herbert in 1837.^[6] 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).^[7][8]

Pyrolirion is classified under the tribe Eustephieae of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae, family Amaryllidacea. 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.^[9][10]

Species

The species-level classification of Pyrolirion is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015)^[2][11][12]

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

See also

• Zephyranthes
• Cooperia
• Habranthus

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. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. Herbert, William 1821. Appendix to Botanical Register, page 37
4. Tropicos, Pyrolirion Herb.
5. A.W. Meerow & D.A. Snijman (1998). "Amaryllidaceae". In Klaus Kubitzki,. Flowering plants, Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae). Volume III. Springer. p. 103. ISBN 978-3-540-64060-8.
6. 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.
7. David H. McNicoll (1863). Dictionary of natural history terms with their derivations: including the various orders, genera, and species. Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 435.
8. David Gledhill (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
9. "Hippeastreae" (in French). Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB). Retrieved November 29, 2011.
10. "Pyrolirion". Pacific Bulb Society. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
11. "Pyrolirion" (in French). Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB). Retrieved November 29, 2011.
12. "Pyrolirion". The Plant List: A working list of all plant species. Retrieved November 29, 2011.