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Project Noah Nature School
Crinum americanum
Swamp lilies are erect plants that grow in small clumps. The leaves grow directly from the bulb and are 2–4 feet long and 2–3 inches wide. The flower stem is about 1 inch in diameter, 2–3 feet tall, with 2–6 flowers forming a showy umber at the top. The fragrant flowers are white, sometimes marked with pink. The sepals are 3–4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. They are joined at the base, forming a long tube, but curve backward at the end to form a ball-shaped blossom. The upper half of the stamen is purple, with purple anthers extending out from the blossom as the sepals curve backward.
Planted by a pond in a wildlife habitat garden.
Some authorities place this beautiful flower in the amaryllis family instead of the lily family. It differs from many lilies in that its floral parts are attached above the ovary rather than below.
Spotted on Nov 30, 2012
Submitted on Dec 5, 2012
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