Hymenocallis--TOW
Kevin D. Preuss (Sat, 24 Apr 2004 06:25:21 PDT)

Phil -
This seems to be the case in the West Indes and Meso America - one grows
along the coast and the other is more riparian.
Typically H. carribbeae occurs on the island while latifolia gows on the
coastline of the Gulf dwn into Central America beaches.
I've yet to figure out what H. expansa is ( I think this one lacks a neck).
H. aerenicola I am not that familiar with. (mine has a neck and 3 offsets).
The other plant you have could be H. expansa as I have heard of this
occurring on one end of an island while H. carribeae formed large colonies
on the other side of the isalnd.

Kevin Preuss

The out islands of the northern Bahamas have two 'endemic' Hymenocallis
(that I've seen). I hesitate on the endemic status of these because

although

I've seen one them frequently in the wild, the area has been settled for
quite a while and I keep second-guessing myself as to the species. One is
relatively large-bulbed (H. arenicola?) and grows in the coral sand dunes
right up to the storm line. The bulbs are oten deeply buried. It does

not

divide and is remarkable tolerant of salt and the winter drought. It is
interesting to observe this lily growing out of the debris line from past
hurricanes on some of the uninhabited shorelines. Its not clear how far
these plants have been carried by the storms.
The second species grows more inland, offsets freely and has smaller,
narrower, more upright leaves that come to a distinct point. The flowers
are correspondingly smaller and have a relatively small corolla. I've
never observed this species on the dunes and its usually associated with
human habitation- often with abandoned settlements.
Virtually all plants exhibit some degree of infection (Cercospora?) as

they

begin to go dormant during the dry season although plants on the dunes
appear to be much less susceptible.
Thanks for the useful discussion,
Phil Andrews

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