EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Spring Spiderlily in the Bayou

Spring Spiderlily (Hymenocallis liriosme), Family Amaryllidaceae [prev. Liliaceae]
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve, Louisiana, USA

Explanation:   Check out this striking and amazing floral display in the sultry bayous of southern coastal Louisiana!  This is a "spring spiderlily" ... appropriately blooming in springtime (although it is strictly not a spider, nor in fact a true lily of Liliaceae, having been moved into the family Amaryllidaceae).  

   

Found in south central U.S., this perennial plant of the warm temperate zone reaches a meter in height with these spectacular and fragrant flowers.  

It is known to attract insects and birds to its nectar, but is resistant to deer nibbling.  It is used as cultivars for gardens.

Over a dozen species of this genus Hymenocallis occur in southeastern U.S. from Texas to Oklahoma east to Virginia.

Acknowledgments
     My thanks to Larry Allain of USGS, Lafayette, Louisiana, for the positive identification, and especially to Jim Grace of USGS of Lafayette for bringing me to this outstanding natural preserve location.  Future EPOW episodes will feature more of this site.