''Habranthus'' (copperlily) was a formerly recognized

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 ...

of tender

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

flowering

bulbs In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs durin ...

in the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of 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 ...

Amaryllidaceae. It is now included within a more broadly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

genus ''

Zephyranthes ''Zephyranthes'' is a genus of temperate and tropical plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, native to the Western Hemisphere and widely cultivated as ornamentals. Following the expansion of the genus in 2019, which n ...

''. The genus was first identified by pioneering bulb enthusiast William Herbert in 1824.

Taxonomy

''Habranthus'' was formerly regarded separate from ''

''; distinctive features included holding its flowers at an angle rather than upright, and possessing unequal

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. At one stage, ''Habranthus'' was considered a subgenus of the closely related ''

Hippeastrum ''Hippeastrum'' () is a genus of about 90 species and over 600 hybrids and cultivars of perennial herbaceous bulbous plants. They generally have large fleshy bulbs and tall broad leaves, generally evergreen, and large red or purple flowers. ...

''. It was later treated as a full genus in the tribe

Hippeastreae Hippeastreae is a tribe of plants belonging to the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Species in this tribe are distributed in South America. Flowers are large and showy, zygomorphic, with the stamens in varying ...

. However,

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies from 2000 onwards showed that although Hippeastreae was

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

, many of the genera placed in the tribe were not; in particular, ''Habranthus'', ''Zephyranthes'' and ''Sprekelia'' formed a complex in which traditionally placed species were intermingled. Accordingly, in 2019, a broad

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle *Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

of ''Zephyranthes'' was proposed, including the former genus ''Habranthus''. This proposal has been accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

, among other taxonomic databases.

Cultivation

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, species formerly placed in ''Habranthus'', like other rain lilies, are regarded as "heirloom plants", although not widely used in mainstream landscapes, perhaps because their bloom time, dependent on rain, is erratic. Nevertheless, the bulbs are rugged and easy to grow in

USDA Hardiness Zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

8-10 and are recognized among bulb specialists as possessing distinct landscape value in appropriate areas of the world.Ogden, Scott. ''Garden Bulbs for the South''. Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Co., 1994, pp 5-27 In colder regions they may be grown in sheltered sites, or in pots kept frost-free in winter., p. 101 The most commonly grown species are the pink-flowered ''

Zephyranthes robusta ''Zephyranthes robusta'', synonym ''Habranthus robustus'', commonly known as the Brazilian copperlily, pink fairy lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of herbaceous flowering bulb. It is native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay,, p. 101 but ...

'' (formerly ''Habranthus robustus'') and the yellow-flowered ''

Zephyranthes tubispatha ''Zephyranthes tubispatha'', synonym ''Habranthus tubispathus'', the Rio Grande copperlily or Barbados snowdrop, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is a perennial bulb native to southern South America (Brazil, Arge ...

'' (formerly ''Habranthus tubispathus''). File:Habranthus robustus (1).jpg, ''

'' (syn. ''H. robustus'') File:H tubispathus 07.jpg, ''

'' (syn. ''H. tubispathus''),

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

References

* Howard, Thad M. ''Bulbs for Warm Climates''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001, pp 77–82.

External links

International Bulb Society's gallery of photographs

Pacific Bulb Society's gallery of photographs

Habranthus entry in Flora of North America {{Taxonbar, from=Q142483 Historically recognized angiosperm genera Amaryllidoideae

Taxonomy

Cultivation

See also

References

External links