Placea
Jane McGary (Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:42:12 PST)

I finally saw Placea (a spectacular population, too) in the wild a couple
of weeks ago while traveling in Chile, and got some good photos. I asked
Mary Sue to make a wiki page for the genus, but before we do so, I'd like
to run the following introductory text past our amaryllid specialists to
make sure it's not out of date. It's derived from the "AGS Encyclopaedia
of Alpines" (1994) and several Chilean wildflower books. Reviewing the
descriptions confirmed that the plants I photographed are P. arzae, since
the distinctive corona (the structure in some amaryllids best known as the
trumpet of a daffodil) is clearly seen in the photos.

Here is the proposed text for your review:

Placea (Amaryllidaceae). Five to seven species native to north and central
Chile, distinguished from Rhodophiala and Hippeastrum by the presence of a
short corona structure. They grow among scrub on summits and steep slopes
at mid elevations in the coast range and Andean foothills, in rocky clay
soils, flowering in spring and dormant in summer. The Andean species
experience some frost while in growth. The very showy, narrowly to widely
funnel-shaped flowers are borne in an umbel. Like other amaryllids of the
region, they are not eaten by grazing animals except in severe drought years.

Placea amoena Phil. Leaves glaucous-green and rather lax; scape 25-40 cm
tall; flowers widely funnel-shaped, vivid rose-purple with red stripes on
the lower half of each tepal; corona 8- to 12-toothed and sometimes also
trifid. Coquimbo province.

Placea arzae Phil. Leaves glaucous; scape 20-30 cm tall; flowers widely
funnel-shaped, white with deep red-purple stripes and an entire, narrowly
funnel-shaped corona, pale with purple rim. Santiago province.

Placea davidii Ravenna. Leaves dark green, almost cylindrical, lax; scape
to 30 cm or a little taller; flowers dark to pale pink with white center
and dark purple stripes; corona 6-lobed. Santiago province.

Placea germainii Phil. Leaves 2, with thickened margins; scape glaucous,
25-30 cm tall; flowers 5 or fewer in umbel, each tepal yellow with purple
dots on the outer portion and purple in the inner portion; corona only 4 mm
long. A single peak in the coast range of Aconcagua province.

Placea grandiflora Lem. Leaves to 15 cm long, withered by flowering; scape
to 45 cm tall; flowers broadly funnel-shaped, white to cream with purple
stripes; corona deeply 6-lobed, red to purple. Santiago and Aconcagua
provinces.

Placea lutea Phil. Similar to P. germainii but tepals lemon- to
orange-yellow with purple veins at the base rather than a purple zone, and
corona longer (to 1.2 cm); another single peak in the Aconcagua coast range.

Placea ornata Miers ex Lindl. Leaves 2-3, to 25 cm long, withered by
flowering. Scape to 30 cm; flowers broadly funnel-shaped, white to cream
with red stripes; corona deeply 6-lobed, red to red-purple. Andean
foothills of Santiago & Aconcagua provinces.

Thanks for your comments!
Jane McGary