''Hymenocallis pimana'' is a member of the genus ''

Hymenocallis ''Hymenocallis'' (US) or , p. 76 (UK) is a genus of American plants in the amaryllis family. ''Hymenocallis'' contains more than 60 species of herbaceous bulbous perennials native to the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, th ...

'', in the family

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus ''Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryllis fa ...

. Common name in English is Pima spider-lily; in Spanish it is cebollín. It is endemic to a small mountainous region in the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

, straddling the Mexican states of

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

. Many of the people of the region are of the indigenous group known as the Mountain Pima or Pima Bajo. Type locale is the small village of Nabogame, approximately 18 km northwest of Yepáchic, Chihuahua and about 10 km east of the frontier with Sonora.Laferrière, Joseph E. 1990. ''Hymenocallis pimana'' (Amaryllidaceae): a new species from northwestern Mexico. Phytologia 68(4):255-259.
/ref> This is at elevation of approximately 1800 m (6000 ft).

Ecology

The plant is locally abundant in the vicinity of the type locale. It grows in large colonies of hundreds of individuals, often near waterways and gulleys. This largely due to the nature of the large, green seeds which fall on the ground and germinate close to the parent plant without much dispersal. The large, showy flowers appear in June, at the beginning of the summer rainy season. Flowers are white and erect, with narrow perianth segments and a prominent corolla. Bulbs resemble small onion bulbs.

Uses

The Pima peoples of the region report that these bulbs provided an emergency food source in years past, during famines that followed crop failures. They say that the bulbs were boiled in lye to remove toxic alkaloids before consumption. This is the only known instance of any people utilizing any member of this genus as food.Laferrière, Joseph E. 1998. Native detoxification of bulbs of Mountain Pima spider-lily (Hymenocallis pimana, Amaryllidaceae). Economic Botany 52(2):207-208

References

External links

* * pimana Edible plants Flora of Mexico Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of Sonora Plants described in 1990 {{Amaryllidaceae-stub