Lycoris aurea

Family	Amaryllidaceae
Scientific name	Lycoris aurea (L'Héritier) Herbert
Synonyms	Amaryllis aurea L'Héritier
	(Many authors' classification on synonyms) Amaryllis africana Lamarck; Amaryllis aurea L'Héritier: Amaryllis platypetala Lindley ex Bury; Lycoris africana (Lamarck) M. Roemer; Lycoris aurea (L'Héritier) Herbert var. angustitepala P.S. Hsu, S. Kurita, Z.Z. Yu & J.Z. Lin; Lycoris aurea (L'Héritier) Herbert var. surgens Worsley ex Traub & Moldenke; Lycoris lajolla Traub; Lycoris traubii W. Hayward; Nerine aurea (L'Héritier) Sweet
Common name	(Japanese common name) shouki-suisen (ショウキズイセン, 鍾馗水仙 [meaning: Zhong Kui narcisus]), shouki-ran (ショウキラン, 鍾馗蘭 [meaning: Zhong Kui orchid])
	(Chinese common name) hu di xiao (忽地笑)
	(English common name) golden spider lily
Distribution	(Japan) Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa
	(Other nations) China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan
Habitat	Mountane field
Chromosomal number	2n=15
Description	Leaves 30-60cm long, 12-18mm wide. Scapes 60cm tall. Flowrs yellow perianths 4-5.6cm, flowering in October. Perennial plants.
Reference	Fertile taxa with a pair of [M+T]-type genome
	Sterile taxa with [M+T] and [A]-type genomes
	Lycoris aurea (L’Héritier) Herbert
Note	Lycoris houdyshelii Traub (2n=30) is very similar species with Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris houdyshelii is a garden plant in Japan which is thought to be native to China. Lycoris houdyshelii Traub is not a synonym of Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris flavescens M. Y. Kim & S. T. Lee (2n=19) is a bit similar species with with Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris flavescens is native to Korea. Lycoris flavescens M. Y. Kim & S. T. Lee is not a synonym of Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris longituba Y. Hsu & G. J. Fan (2n=16) has white (merely yellow) flowrs and is native to China. Lycoris longituba Y. Hsu & G. J. Fan is not a synonym of Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris aurea (L’Héritier) Herbert (2n=14, 15, 16) has yellow flowrs and is native to China. Lycoris aurea (L’Héritier) Herbert is not a synonym of Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. Lycoris chinensis Traub (2n=16) has yellow flowrs. Lycoris chinensis is native to China (Lycoris chinensis Traub var. chinensis) and Korea (Lycoris chinensis Traub var. sinuolata K. H.T ae & S. C. Ko). Lycoris chinensis Traub is not a synonym of Lycoris albiflora Koidzumi. In general, golden hurricane lily or golden spider lily means Lycoris chinensis or some artificial hybrids of Lycoris chinensis.Such hybrids of Lycoris chinensis are familiar with Japanese people as garden plants. Lycoris traubii Hayward (2n=12, 13, 14) has yellow flowrs too and is native to Japan and Taiwan. Native Lycoris traubii is relatively rare in Japan. Lycoris traubii Hayward is not a synonym of Lycoris aurea (L’Héritier) Herbert.
	There are many cultivated plants of Lycoris chinensis Traub or its hybrids in Japan. In many cases, such culivated Lycoris chinensis might be confused with or misunderstood as Lycoris traubii Hayward.
	Previously I identified plants in Kopishikawa Botanical Garden as Lycoris traubii. However, Mr. Kurita pointed out the plants should be identified as Lycoris aurea (2n=15), but not Lycoris traubii. I would like to agree with Mr. Kurita's opinion. Due to these, I reconstructed this Web page in September 2, 2013.

October 2007 at Koishikawa Botanical Garden	October 2007 at Koishikawa Botanical Garden	October 2007 at Koishikawa Botanical Garden