i got these bulbs in trade. i was told they were white lycoris. they are not white lycoris. i don't know how to do any of the computer things that will help you to i.d. this bulb. but if you type in giant white spider lily there will be an entry for daves that shows a giant white spider lily which is an amaryllis. and in the picture section they show some bulbs that look like my bulb. i thought maybe i had a crinum but this looks like amaryllis. crinum bulbs are huge, right? and they say to just barely put the bulb in the soil. what else should i know about this plant?
help with i.d..........GIANT WHITE SPIDER LILY
Is this it?
http://www.gardenguides.com/flowers/bulbs/peruviandaffodil.htm
They are pretty, but not hardy here and so I'd have to dig them and that probably wouldn't happen. ;)
Diann
no. look under daves plant files..........crinum asiaticum. the bulbs i have look like that. so is this a crinum or an amaryllis? oh my goodness.........i just looked at the picture of the full grown plant instead of the bulb picture. it is as large as a man. she sent me 10 of these! lol.
The plant group that includes Crinums and amaryllis (Hippeastrums) and true Amaryllis (Amaryllis belladonna) and lots of other plants as well, is referred to as the family of Amaryllids.
Many of the Amaryllids have "lily" as part of their common name, but they aren't true lilies of the Lilium family. The "Giant Spider Lily" isn't really a lily as the ovary (seed making part) is below the tepals ("petals") and that part is always above them in true lilies. You can always tell them apart by looking for the "girl parts".
If your plant *is* Crinum americanum or any other Crinum for that matter, it *is* an Amaryllid, but not an amaryllis and not "really" a lily.
Pretty confusing, hunh?
Robert.
Wow, those are big plants. :) Kind of neat, aren't they? :)
Diann
want one or two? lol.
robert that is as clear as mud to me. more lol. i am one of those learners that learn by seeing and doing. what's a TRUE lily? and do true lilies have those huge bulbs that look sort of like a daffodil on hormones? name me a true lily so i will have a frame of reference.
so if my bulb looks like that i most likely have a crinum...........is that right?
A daffodil on hormones.... yep, that sounds like the amaryllis family.
True lilies are 'scaley' bulbs with little chip-like sections.
so true lilies are like asiatic lilies and the native tiger lily? i have some of those and didn't even know it. so a crinum is not a lily. it is a crinum............in the same family as amaryllis.
and i am trying to get a specific answer out of you. on the picture i first talked about on daves......crinum asiaticum.............there is a picture of the plant bulbs. my bulbs look like that. so i have a crinum, right? not an amaryllis or any other type of plant, right? if the bulb looks like that then it must be a crinum...........right? no other bulb looks like that, is that right? how many ways can i ask? lol. i have 10 of these and i want to trade some of them because these plants get huge. but i can't trade it if i don't know what it is or at least the possibilities of what it could be. i am not going to say they are lycoris because i know they're not that. i would just like to be able to say that they are most likely crinums but could be whatever else you tell me. thank you so much for your patience with my ignorance. barb
No problem, I'm ignorant about many things!
But, I'm a bit perplexed ~ the crinum asiaticum I found has pics of a sprouted seed and some bulbils/seeds, but no bulb pics. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/93829/index.html 'Giant White Spider Lily' makes me think of Hymenocallis which can get fairly large http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/789/index.html
Couldn't find a pic of a crinum bulb but here is a Hymenocallis bulb http://www.scatsflowers.com/Hymenocallis_Bulb.JPG
This message was edited Sep 27, 2006 11:46 PM
To add to the confusion, there is a white Lycoris radiata http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lycoris/Lycoris-xalbiflora.jpg
I would caution against using a visual comparison of your bulb to confirm the ID. Even if you narrow it down to "likley to be" a Crinum, even an expert couldn't be sure which one it is by looking only at the bulb. There are lots of species and hybrids and the bulbs can all look like one another. If you are wrong, it will only lead to more confusion and possibly hurt feelings if you trade them as something they aren't.
For example, you received them as Lycoris and you seem sure they aren't. I would just ask the person you traded with about the bulbs. If anyone can help you, surely they would be the one.
The only way to confirm an ID is by examining the bloom, and even then, a positive ID may be only a best guess as to which species or hybrid it is. You will just not know the specifics til it blooms, but you *might* be able to find the right Genus by examining the foliage.
If you could post a picture of your bulbs, it might be possible for someone ID them as an "amaryllis" or "not an amaryllis" (Hippeastrum) but that leaves lots of other bulbs besides Crinum that it might also be!
To go back to your original post: Yes, many Crinums produce huge bulbs, but they start off much smaller. Hippeastrum bulbs get about softball size at most, but many people don't get them to grow that big, but it is possible.
In the Plant Files, under Lycoris radiata, there is a bulb pictured. It is a good size for Lycoris, but it is still small compared to many old Crinum bulbs, but at least you can see the general shape of it which differs form an "amaryllis" bulb, but has things in common with some Crinums. Even though the picture is of a red flowered Lycoris, the bulb is like the white or yellow-flowered ones.
Again, why are you certain they aren't Lycoris?
Robert.
because i grow red, yellow and pink lycoris................it is not lycoris. they are shaped like a clove out of a garlic and look like a large white macadamia nut. i did go back to the lady. i told her they were not lycoris. she said they were. end of story. and i don't want to pass these off as FOR SURE crinum or FOR SURE anything. i just want to be able to say what the possibilities might be as i don't want them to ruin and i don't need 10 of these.
and i don't know how to post a picture. i don't even own a digital camera. i don't know how to send hyperlinks. illiterate. lol.
thanks for the help. barb
Hi Barb~
I wasn't implying that you would try to pass them off as anything other than what they are. It just seemed that you were so anxious to identify them that you might accept an ID "prematurely".
I know what you mean about not having a digi-cam. I don't own one either. My brother has left his with me over the summer and I've really enjoyed using it, even though it take two computers hooked together to get the pictures downloaded (it's an old camera that uses 3.5 floppies and my current computer doesn't have a floppy drive but the old one does.) It's a bother, but I really love being able to photograph my plants and share them here.
As far as your bulb goes, most of the Crinum bulbs I have seen have dried scales covering the bulb and unless you peel these away, you won't see much of what they look like underneath. They tend to be more teardrop or pear-shaped rather than roundish like a Macadamia. Some of the Hymenocallis I have grown are shaped more like that, especially the smaller ones.
Is there anything at all coming form the top of the bulb? Is there a neck of dried leaf bases? If so, when you pull a bit of the scale away, does it break away cleanly?
As far as sending a link goes, you can just type the full address of the page into the text.
You can also pull up the page, then copy the address from the toolbar by placing the cursor in the address space to the right of the URL (page address) and leftclicking to highlight it (It will turn blue in Explorer). Then you rightclick, choose "copy" and leftclick again to copy. Then you go to where you want to put the hyperlink, put the cursor on the page and rightclick and choose "paste" to put the link on the page.
Robert.
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! i am stupid. i do not understand any of what you just said. wait. my sister is here. let me see if she can do this so i can show you this bulb picture. yes there is something coming out of some of them. i thought it was the plant but from the site i am talking about it sounds like it's the root.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/120225/
SHE DID IT!
SEE THOSE BULBS. THEY LOOK KIND OF LIKE THAT. AND THE ONE AT THE BOTTOM WITH THE LITTLE GREEN THING....SOME HAVE THAT TOO.
RIGHT CLICK. LEFT CLICK. HOW FUN.
http://onaleeseeds.bizhosting.com/giant_spider_lily_crinium_plant_bulb.html
HAHAHAHAHA. just wanted to see if i could do it without her. i am like nero in rome now. mad as a hatter. a brand new toy.
Here's another Spider Lily: Hymenocallis 'Tropical Giant'
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/03015.html
This message was edited Sep 28, 2006 9:48 PM
o.k. the thing i have could be either amaryllis or crinum, right? also this peruvian daffodil? i hope to post next year what it actually was. there are some folks that want to trade for my mystery bulb so i am not stuck with 10 of something that could be as big as i. thanks for all of your help. barb
I guess so..........
And do post about them when they bloom and you know finally what they are.
Good luck!
Robert.
will do. maybe by that time i will learn to post a picture from a digital camara. thanks for all of your help. barb