''Cardiocrinum'' is a genus of

bulbous plants Bulb or Bulbs may refer to: Common uses * Bulb, a food-storage structure within some plants ** Ornamental bulb, a kind of perennial plant * Light bulb, an electric lamp Maritime * Bulb keel, a type of keel * Bulbous bow, a part that sticks o ...

of the lily family first described in 1846. They are native to the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

, and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

.Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 134 大百合属 da bai he shu ''Cardiocrinum'' (Endlicher) Lindley, Veg. Kingd. 205. 1846.
/ref> The bulbs are usually formed at the soil surface. The preferred habitat is woodland. The plants tend to be

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning ar ...

, dying after flowering.

Description

''Cardiocrinum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

Taxonomy

''Cardiocrinum'' was originally described by Endlicher in 1836 as one of five sections of ''

Lilium ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

'', to which it is closely related. Later authors considered it a separate genus. The common name is giant lilies. They differ from ''Lilium'' in some characteristics, most notably in the heart shaped leaves. The genus name alludes to these leaves, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''kardia'', heart, and ''krinon'', lily. The Himalayan species ''

Cardiocrinum giganteum ''Cardiocrinum giganteum'', the giant Himalayan lily, is the largest species of any of the lily plants, growing up to 3.5 metres high. It is found in the Himalayas, China and Myanmar (Burma). ;Varieties Two varieties are recognized *''C. gig ...

'' is the largest of any of the lily plants, growing up to 3.5 metres high.

Species

The genus ''Cardiocrinum'' is endemic to East Asia and has three species, two of which occur in China.

References

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* * * * * Liliaceae Liliaceae genera Taxa named by Stephan Endlicher {{Liliales-stub