Pyrolirion
{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{For|the African and Asian flame lilies|Gloriosa (plant)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = 1724 Pyrolirion arvense.jpg
|image_caption=golden flame lily
(Pyrolirion arvense)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
|taxon = Pyrolirion
|authority = Herb.
|synonyms_ref=[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/synonomy.do?name_id=284941 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
|synonyms=Leucothauma Ravenna
|name=Fire lilies
Flame lilies
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See here
}}
Pyrolirion, commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies,Pyrolirion fire lily. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/160769/pyrolirion/details is a small genus of herbaceous, bulbous South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia,Herbert, William 1821. Appendix to Botanical Register, page 37Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-af). Pyrolirion Herb. Tropicos. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40021379 and Ecuador.Oleas, N. H., Jost, L., Zambrano, R., Torres, C. G., Heredia, J., Bustamante, M., ... & Quintana, C. (2025). [https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/140459/download/pdf/ First records of the genus Pyrolirion Herb.(Liliopsida, Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae) in Ecuador.] Check List, 21(1), 142-147.
Description
=Vegetative characteristics=
Pyrolirion are bulbous,Rand, E. S. (1873). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Bulbs/GcRLAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA210&printsec=frontcover Bulbs: A Treatise on Hardy and Tender Bulbs and Tubers.] p. 210. USA: Shepard and Gill. herbsPyrolirion. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://eol.org/pages/30182 with tunicate bulbsLemaire, C. A. (1854). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Le_Jardin_fleuriste/hO8XAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PP337&printsec=frontcover Le Jardin fleuriste: journal général des progrés et des intérets horticoles et botaniques ....] Belgien: F. et E. Gyselynck. and slim, annual, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves. The bulbs produce offsets.
=Generative characteristics=
The white,Howard, T. M. (2010). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Bulbs_for_Warm_Climates/5AXYEAAAQBAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA128&printsec=frontcover Bulbs for Warm Climates.] p. 128. Deutschland: University of Texas Press. orange or yellow flowersHenderson, P. (1881). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Handbook_of_Plants_and_General_Horticult/c1YZAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA182&printsec=frontcover Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture.] p. 182. USA: (n.p.). 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.{{cite book|editor=Klaus Kubitzki |chapter=Amaryllidaceae|author=A.W. Meerow & D.A. Snijman|title =Flowering plants, Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae)|publisher =Springer|volume=III|year =1998|page=103|isbn =978-3-540-64060-8|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=FyPVYzL76sMC&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA103}} The flower has 6 tepals.Kosteletzky, V. F. (1831). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Allgemeine_medizinisch_pharmazeutische_F/Abw8AAAAcAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA143&printsec=frontcover Allgemeine medizinisch-pharmazeutische Flora, enthaltend die systematische Aufzählung und Beschreibung sämmtlicher bis jetzt bekannt gewordenen Gewächse aller Welttheile in ihrer Beziehung auf Diätetik, Therapie und Pharmazie nach den natürlichen Familien des Gewächsreiches geordnet.] p. 143. Deutschland: Hoff. The androecium consists of 6 stamens.Sweet, R., Don, G. (1839). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Hortus_Britannicus/xP4CAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA675&printsec=frontcover Hortus Britannicus.] p. 675. Vereinigtes Königreich: J. Ridgway. The stamens arise from or below the throat. The gynoecium consists of 3 carpels. The style has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas. The capsule fruit bears discoid,[https://www.google.de/books/edition/Just_s_botanischer_jahresbericht/5gdVAAAAMAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover Just's botanischer jahresbericht: Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder.] p. 21. (1882). Deutschland: Gebr. Borntraeger. compressed, black seeds with a white raphe.
=Cytology=
Taxonomy
The genus Pyrolirion was first established by the British botanist William Herbert in 1837.{{cite book|author=William Herbert|title =Amaryllidaceae: preceded by an attempt to arrange the monocotyledonous orders, and followed by a treatise on cross-bred vegetables, and supplement |publisher =James Ridgway & Sons|year =1863|pages=183–185|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=EusCAAAAYAAJ&dq=pyrolirion%20william%20herbert&pg=PA183}} 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).{{cite book|author=David H. McNicoll|title =Dictionary of natural history terms with their derivations: including the various orders, genera, and species|publisher =Lovell Reeve & Co.|year =1863|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatur00nicogoog/page/n446 435]|url =https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatur00nicogoog|quote=Pyrolirion.}}{{cite book|author=David Gledhill|title =The Names of Plants|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year =2008|page=322|isbn =978-0-521-86645-3|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA322}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Hippeastreae.htm|title=Hippeastreae|language=French|publisher=Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB)|accessdate=November 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024095533/http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Hippeastreae.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2008|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Pyrolirion|title=Pyrolirion|publisher=Pacific Bulb Society|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}
=Species=
The species-level classification of Pyrolirion is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015){{cite web|url=http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Pyrolirion/index.htm|title=Pyrolirion|language=French|publisher=Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB)|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Amaryllidaceae/Pyrolirion/|title=Pyrolirion|publisher=The Plant List: A working list of all plant species|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}
- 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
Cultivation
It is not widely cultivated.Cowley, J. (1989). [https://inpn.mnhn.fr/docs-web/docs/download/186649 127. Pyrolirion tubiflorum: Amaryllidaceae.] The Kew Magazine, 6(3), 95-101. It requires a period of dormancy in winter.