Zephyranthes atamasca
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name=Atamasco lily
|taxon = Zephyranthes atamasca
|parent = Zephyranthes subg. Zephyranthes
|display_parents = 3
|image = Atamasco Lily (Rain Lily), Canady Branch, Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, USA.jpg
|synonyms = See article
}}
File:Atamasco lilies blooming near the entrance to the caves at Florida Caverns State Park.JPG
Zephyranthes atamasca, commonly known as the atamasco-lily or more generally a rain-lily, is native to the southeastern United States. It grows in swampy forests and coastal prairies, preferring acid boggy soils rich with leaf mold. Following the appearance of broad, grassy leaves in early winter, it blooms in March or April. It has several narrow, linear basal leaves about {{convert|0.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|10|-|15|in|cm|abbr=on}} long.{{cite web|title=Atamasco Lily Wildflower|url=http://www.wildflowers-guide.com/01-atamasco-lily.html}}
Its native range extends from Florida north to Maryland and west to Mississippi.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220014476 1. Zephyranthes atamasca (Linnaeus) Herbert]. Flora of North America The species is also naturalized in Bermuda and in the Mariana Islands.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=291977 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families] Both its leaves and bulbs are poisonous.{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |author-link1=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |orig-year=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=323}}
Taxonomy
The scientific name of this species has a somewhat complex history. In 1753, in the first edition of Species Plantarum, Carl Linnaeus placed it in the genus Amaryllis using the epithet "Atamasca" (the capital "A" showing that this was intended as a noun, not an adjective).{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |date=1753 |contribution=Amaryllis |title=Species Plantarum |edition=first |volume=1 |page=292 |contribution-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358311 |access-date=2015-04-15 }} However, in the second edition of Species Plantarum, he changed the spelling to "Atamasco" (again with a capital "A").{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |date=1762 |contribution=Amaryllis |title=Species Plantarum |edition=second |volume=1 |page=420 |contribution-url=http://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/ing/Libro.php?Libro=1262&Pagina=436 |access-date=2015-04-15 }} "Atamasco" is the Native American name.{{Cite book |last1=Hyam |first1=R. |last2=Pankhurst |first2=R.J. |year=1995 |title=Plants and their names : a concise dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-866189-4 |name-list-style=amp |page=536}} When in 1821, William Herbert transferred the species to his genus Zephyranthes he used Linnaeus's later spelling for the epithet, i.e. Zephyranthes atamasco,{{Cite journal |last=Herbert |first=William | author-link=William Herbert (botanist) |year=1821 |title=An appendix |journal=Curtis's Botanical Magazine |volume=48 |page=36 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044107228413;view=1up;seq=46 |access-date=2015-04-15 |location=London }} this being the type species of the genus. Many sources have used this spelling subsequently. However, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants conserves the type of Zephyranthes using the spelling atamasca.{{cite web |title=Search for 'Zephyranthes' in 'Code Appendices' |url=http://www.botany.si.edu/references/codes/props/index.cfm |website=Proposals and Disposals |publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |access-date=2015-04-15}}
=Synonyms=
Synonyms include the following:{{ThePlantList | id = kew-291977 | taxon = Zephyranthes atamasco | authority = (L.) Herb. | accessdate = 9 Feb 2016 }}
- Amaryllis atamasco L., orth. var.
:Note: Amaryllis atamasco Blanco = Hippeastrum miniatum{{Cite web |title=Amaryllis atamasco|website=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=298550 |access-date=2013-01-07}}
- Amaryllis aramasco L., orth. var.
- Amaryllis atanasia Crantz
- Amaryllis pulchella Salisb.
- Amaryllis verecunda Salisb.
- Amaryllis virginiensis Oken
- Atamasco atamasco (L.) Greene, nom. inval.
- Zephyranthes atamasco var. minor Herb.
References
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist|refs=
{{GRIN | Zephyranthes atamasca | 42222 | access-date=2015-04-15 }}
}}
- Garden Bulbs for the South (1994)
External links
- {{citation |url=http://www.auburn.edu/~deancar/wfnotes/alily.htm |title=Wildflowers of Alabama |author=Caroline Dean |year=1995}}
- {{citation |url=http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Zephyranthes_atamasco |publisher=FloridaNature.org |title=Florida Nature |year=2007}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q8069320}}
Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States
Category:Garden plants of North America
Category:Plants described in 1753