Zephyranthes – Flowers of the West Wind
When William Herbert, Dean of Manchester in 1837, gave the name zephyranthes to a group of American bulbous plants, he could scarcely have known what garden gems the genus held for he knew a small number only from herbarium specimens or as plants grown in England in greenhouses.
This may be said of garden makers of today for zephyranthes are not so widely known or freely used. It is interesting to note that although a few have found their way into gardens – and some long ago – they are simply transplanted wild plants.
Zephyranthes, literally flowers of the west wind, have grass-like leaves and funnel form blossoms of yellow, white, white flushed pink, light pink, dark pink and a near red. In the South, one variety springs up whenever it rains and so is known As Pink Rain Lily. Other names, descriptive of the plant’s airy delicacy, are Zephyr Lily and Fairy Lily.
Flowers of the west wind grow as native plants here and there from southeastern Virginia southward down into Florida, in eastern Texas, in the higher lands of Mexico and Central America, in the Guianas and the Caribbean Islands.
They skip over the great equatorial regions of South America and are endemic again in the countries of the La Plata River, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
When explorers from Europe first entered the La Plata, they are said to have given the river its name for the great number of glistening white flowers of Zephyranthes candida growing along its banks.
It is not easy to say how many species there are for they have been mixed in classifications with Habranthus and Cooperia, closely related genera. But, the number is fairly large, 46 or more. Of these only a limited number are in cultivation with a still smaller group available in the bulb trade.
Some kinds are difficult to grow and not dependable as garden plants. The following have proven satisfactory under a wide range of conditions.
Z. atamasco is a native from southeastern Virginia southward. It is found in seven counties of northern Florida, possibly also in Mississippi. Essentially it is a swamp plant, not growing in water, but about the bases of trees and on hummocks or small elevations in swamp land. Sometimes it is found in damp soil in open woodlands. Its flowers are large, white, with purplish shading as they fade. The name Atamasco is of Indian origin. It went to England at an early date and it is a co-type upon which Herbert established the genus. It behaves well in the garden and is one of the earliest to bloom, February-March in northern Florida.
Z. candida is from Argentina. The flowers are pure white and do not open wide. The foliage is dark green, erect and rush-like. In southern gardens it blooms in early autumn.
Z. citrina, a yellow flowered species, is widely distributed on lands around the western and southern rim of the Caribbean and also in the West Indies. It was described and named from specimens collected in British Guiana. It has been named at least four different times, the other three names (synonyms) being chrysantha, eggersiana, and pulchella. It is a dependable sort with pure yellow flowers opening in late summer or early autumn.
Z. grandiflora, known also as Z carinata, probably the most widely distributed in cultivation of all the genus, apparently came originally from southern Mexico. It is a large-flowered (flowers up to 4 inches across), pink colored species. Frequently, blooms have seven or eight parts in the perianth instead of the normal six. It blooms in early summer with straggling flowers later on. Its leaves are quite long and brown at the base.
Z. insularum is native in the West Indies. Its flowers are white, flushed on outer parts with pink. The perianth parts are in two sizes, the inner one smaller than the outer. As with all zephyranthes its flowers last for two days. The first day the flowers open quite wide, closing partly by or toward night. On the second day, the outer three parts of the perianth open as on the first day, but the inner ones do not, opening only partly to an erect position. This behavior is unusual among zephyranthes flowers. It is one of the finest in the genus, beautiful and free flowering.
Z. rosea. This too is West Indian. Its flowers are smaller than those of most other sorts, bright, sprightly deep pink in color with lighter center. Its leaves are flat, strap shaped, rounded at the tips and glossy green throughout, not colored toward the bases. Rosea is often confused in the bulb trade with grandiflora but the two are distinctly different and need never be mistaken for one another.
Z. tubispatha, apparently native in the West Indies, is a fine pure white flowered plant. A study of many fresh flowers has revealed no color but white except for green col-or deep in the throat and on the out-side at the base of the perianth. It is a first class plant.
Ajax. This is not a species but a hybrid between Z. candida and Z. citrina secured in Europe in 1895 and described by Sprenger in Gartenflora in 1899. The color is yellow, of a shade that may be called “pale canary.” The leaves are almost cylindrical like those of Z. candida and its flowers are larger than those of either parent. It is dependable and free flowering.
Zephyranthes may be propagated from seed, by offsets and by bulb cuttings but these three methods cannot be used for all sorts. Grandiflora, so far as been in my observations go, and they have been quite extensive, never forms seed and it forms very few offsets. Rosea produces seed, four to eight in each capsule and it produces offsets abundantly. Ajax also forms seed and splits freely. Candida makes an abundance of offsets but under most conditions produces little or no seed. Both insularum and tubispatha give good numbers of offsets and little or no seed. All zephyranthes are readily increased from bulb cuttings and even small pieces, eighth-parts of an inch bulb, produce new growths readily.
Bulbs of sorts native in the United States buried to a depth of 8 or 10 inches when the soil in which they were growing was moved, have survived and grown, but in plant-ing them in gardens or pots they should be covered with only an inch of soil. More is not necessary. They may be transplanted at any time, but early autumn and winter are best.
They make fine pot plants for house and greenhouse and that is the best way to handle them in colder sections. In warmer areas they are fine dependable garden plants. In gardens where there is danger at times of the ground freezing, winter protection can be afforded by a mulch of leaves or straw ample enough to prevent freezing of the soil. Good garden soil with satisfactory drainage is all they need. Apparently it does not matter whether the soil is alkaline or acid. Atamasco and treatiae (another native Florida species) grow naturally in soils as low as pH 4.5 in their reaction and rosea and insularum have been seen flourishing in soil with a pH well above 7.
by Hal Hume
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