3 Yellow Lyroris

James Waddick jwaddick@kc.rr.com
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:08:58 PDT
Dear Jim McK and all, 

	The Yellow flowering Lycoris tend to be very mixed up in commerce. I think this is because less than fully knowledgeable growers and gardeners tend to call every yellow Lycoris  "L. aurea" as it is an 'obvious' name.


Here's a clue to the more common yellow Lycoris

	L. chinensis	Leaves produced in Spring. Plants are fully hardy to Zone 5 maybe colder. Stamens barely exceed petals. Easy and increasingly common.

	L. aurea. Leaves produced in fall, but the largest by far of all Lycoris species to 3 ft long and 1 inch wide. Very succulent and totally frost sensitive. May succeed in Zone 7/8 with protection Stamens far exceed petals.

	L. traubii As for L. aurea, but much small in all parts and equally frost sensitive. Leaves and flowers produced a month or more later than those of L. aurea. 

	These characters should define each of these 3 yellow species. 

	L aurea is best grown in very mild, frost-free climates, but is not easy. L. traubii is less common than either of the other two. 

	Other yellow species are L. caldwellii, L. longituba var. flava, L. anhuiensis and L. straminea only vaguely-kind of straw/tan/pale yellow. 

	Hope this helps.		Jim W. 
 




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