''Doryanthes excelsa'', commonly known as the gymea lily, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Doryanthaceae ''Doryanthes'' is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Doryanthaceae. The genus consists of two species, '' D. excelsa'' (gymea lily) and '' D. palmeri'' (giant spear lily), both endemic natives of the coast of Eastern Australia., p. 312 ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to coastal areas of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

near

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. It has sword-like leaves more than long and it grows a flower spike up to high. The apex of the spike bears a large cluster of bright red flowers, each across. Its common name is derived from the name given to the plant by the indigenous harawalpeople. The Sydney suburbs of Gymea and

Gymea Bay The Gymea Bay is a bay on the upper estuarine Port Hacking River, fed by the Coonong Creek in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia Location and features The bay, the locality, suburb of and the adjacent suburb of Gymea, ...

are named after the lily.

Description

Gymea lilies have a rosette of large numbers of sword-shaped, strap like leaves long and wide. The leaves are bright green, fibrous and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. In winter the flower spike grows from the centre of the rosette until it is up to high, bearing shorter leaves up to long. At the top of the spike, a head of flowers in diameter develops, each flower being bright red,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

-shaped and about long. The head is surrounded by reddish-brown

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s, sometimes making it difficult to see the flowers from the ground. Flowering occurs in spring and is followed by oval-shaped reddish-brown capsules, long. In late summer, the capsule splits open and releases the seeds which are long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Doryanthes excelsa'' was first formally described in 1802 by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

José Correia da Serra José Francisco Correia da Serra (6 June 1750 – 11 September 1823) was a Portuguese Abbot, polymath – philosopher, diplomat, politician and scientist. In some circumstances, he was also known as '' Abbé Correa.'' The plant genus Correa, na ...

from the type specimen collected by

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

"in mountainous parts of the colony of N.S.W.". The description was published in ''

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

''. The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

name (''Doryanthes'') is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''δόρυ (dóry)'' meaning a "spear" and ''ἄνθος (ánthos)'' meaning "a flower". The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''excelsa'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "high", "lofty" or "distinguished". ''Doryanthes excelsa'' and ''

Doryanthes palmeri ''Doryanthes palmeri'', also known as the giant spear lily, is one of only two species of plant in the genus '' Doryanthes'' and the family Doryanthaceae, both being endemic to eastern Australia. It grows in a rosette and the leaves can reach t ...

'' are the only two members of the family Doryanthaceae. "Doryanthes" has inspired the naming of the journal of history and heritage for Southern Sydney founded by

Dharawal The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, s ...

historian

Les Bursill Leslie William Bursill (OAM) (4 February 1945 – 16 February 2019) was a Dharawal (Aboriginal Australian) historian, archaeologist, anthropologist, and publisher, born in Hurstville, New South Wales, in February 1945. His father, Wallace Richa ...

Distribution and habitat

''Doryanthes excelsa'' occurs in

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and dry sclerophyll forest in coastal areas and adjacent mountains from Karuah to

Mount Keira Mount Keira () is a suburb and mountain in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Keira is a site of significant cultural heritage for the Wodi Wodi people. The name Mount Keira derives from the Wodi Wodi name for the mounta ...

. It usually grows in soils derived from sandstone.

Uses

Indigenous use

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

roasted the young stems of gymea lily for eating. They also roasted the roots to make a kind of cake. Fibres from the leaves were used for making brushes and matting.

Horticulture

Gymea lilies are hardy and adaptable plants often used in

landscape gardening Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

, not only in the Sydney region but also in other coastal areas such as

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Plants can be grown from seed but may not flower for up to eight years. Flowering can be encouraged by fire and by carefully placing a stone in the centre of the rosette.

Image gallery

Image:GymeaLily UNSW Flowers.jpg, Flowers Image:Doryanthes excelsa - Morren.jpg, Flowers Image:GymeaLilyFlowerSeeds.jpg, Flowers and past seeds Image:Doryanthes-excelsa_Fitch.jpg, Illustration Image:GymeaLiliLeaves.jpg, Sword-like leaves File:Austnativheathcote.jpg, Australian native growing in

Heathcote National Park Heathcote National Park is a protected national park that is located in the southern region of Sydney, New South Wales in eastern Australia, and is situated on Dharawal country. The national park is situated approximately southwest of the ...

, Sydney Image:Chosen1.JPG, Habit Image: Doryanthes excelsa seed head PB060049.jpg, Seed head

References

External links

''Doryanthes excelsa'' Occurrence data
from

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgamat ...

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3269736 Doryanthaceae Flora of New South Wales Endemic flora of Australia Asparagales of Australia Garden plants of Australia Drought-tolerant plants Plants described in 1802