''Hesperocallis'' is a genus of flowering plants that includes a single species, ''Hesperocallis undulata'', known as the desert lily or ajo lily. It is found in the desert areas of southwestern North America, in Northwestern Mexico, California, and Arizona. The plant grows in Mojave Desert and

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

habitats.

Taxonomy

In the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

, adopted here, ''Hesperocallis'' is placed in the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, ''Asparagus officinalis''. Those who live in the temperate c ...

, subfamily

Agavoideae Agavoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Agavaceae. The group includes many well-known desert and dry-zone types, such as the agav ...

, since recent molecular systematic studies (Pires et al. 2004) have confirmed a close relationship with ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for i ...

''. Other classifications have included the species in its own family, Hemerocallidaceae, or placed it in the Hostaceae (Funkiaceae); both families are submerged into the Agavoideae in the APG III system. As with many of the '

lilioid monocot Lilioid monocots (lilioids, liliid monocots, petaloid monocots, petaloid lilioid monocots) is an informal name used for a grade (grouping of taxa with common characteristics) of five monocot orders (Petrosaviales, Dioscoreales, Pandanales, Li ...

s', prior to the use of molecular evidence in classification, it was placed in the

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

Uses

The bulbs of the desert lily are eaten by native peoples.

References

*Pires, J. C., I. J. Maureira, J. P. Rebman, G. A. Salazar, L. I. Cabrera, M. F. Fay, and M. W. Chase. 2004. Molecular data confirm the phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic ''Hesperocallis'' (Hesperocallidaceae) with ''Agave''. ''Madroño'' 51: 307–311.
NCBI Taxonomy Browser

External links

genus
an
USDA Plants Profile of ''Hesperocallis undulata''

''Hesperocallis''
in th
''Flora of North America''
(treated as a member of the family

)
Distribution Map

''Hesperocallis undulata'' picturesBLM Desert Lily Preserve photo album

links at CSDL, Texas
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1202086, from2=Q3134708 Agavoideae Monotypic Asparagaceae genera North American desert flora Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Arizona Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Mojave Desert Plants used in Native American cuisine Asparagaceae genera Flora without expected TNC conservation status