Hymenocallis coronaria
A southeastern endemic aquatic lily with tall flowering stalks and long strap-shaped leaves, producing fragrant white flowers with a yellow-green eye from mid-May to mid-June on rocky shoals and in swift, shallow rivers along Piedmont river systems, currently under consideration for federal protection due to declines from damming, pollution, and poaching.
Common Names
Cahaba Lily, Shoals Spider-Lily
Summary
Shoals spider-lily, or Cahaba lily, Hymenocallis coronaria is a nonrhizomatous bulb with a globose bulb, tall scape, and strongly channelled deciduous leaves bearing a prominent white corona with a yellowish-green eye; flowers open sequentially from late spring to early summer. Native to Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, it inhabits rocky shoals of Piedmont river systems above and at the Fall Line, with seeds that sink for local establishment.
Conservation status is of concern due to population declines from dam construction, with federal protection under consideration and some sites locally abundant; threats include damming, river pollution, logging, mining, and poaching. Chromosome numbers observed range from 2n=44 in H. coronaria to 2n=49 in hybrids with H. occidentalis.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
1.5-4 feet
Spread
1.5-3 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 5-8
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally full sun to partial shade.
Soil Type
Moist, medium-to-wet soil with rocky substrates.
Soil Drainage
Moist to wet soils; soils must never be allowed to dry out.
Bloom Color
White
Bloom Time
Spring (late spring to early summer)
Foliage Color
Green
Fall Foliage Color
Green
Leaf Lifecycle
Deciduous
Seasons of Interest
Spring and Summer
Propagation Methods
Seeds
Attracts Wildlife
Attracts a variety of pollinators, especially Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- (Leconte) Kunth
- Publication
- Enum. Pl. 5: 855 (1850)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Genus
- Hymenocallis