Ismene (plant)

Ismene
Temporal range: 26.14 –0 Ma Late Oligocene – Recent[1]
Ismene narcissiflora[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae
Genus: Ismene
Salisb.
Synonyms[3]
  • Liriope Herb., nom. illeg.
  • Elisena Herb.
  • Pseudostenomesson Velarde

Ismene, or Peruvian daffodil, is a genus of South American plants in the Amaryllis family.[4] The species are native to Peru and Ecuador and widely cultivated elsewhere as ornamentals because of their large, showy flowers.[5][6]

Ismene produces tender perennial bulbs bearing a strong resemblance to those of Hymenocallis, a genus into which Ismene had often been grouped in the past. However, its morphology differs from Hymenocallis in several significant ways: its vegetative parts, natural range, and chromosome number are all distinct.

Ismene can be difficult to grow in the United States.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Meerow et al., 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ illustration from Flore des serres et des jardins de l’Europe by Charles Lemaire and others. Gand [Gent], Louis van Houtte, 1849, volume 5, plate 440
  3. ^ "Ismene". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  4. ^ Herbert, William 1821. An Appendix: [General index to the Botanical magazine, vol. 43-48 containing a treatise on bulbous roots] page 45
  5. ^ Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744.
  6. ^ Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. (eds.) 1993. Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
  7. ^ Howard, Thad M. Bulbs for Warm Climates. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2001, pp 98–99.