Crinum pedunculatum
Plant Number: 41
Common Name: River Lily, Spider Lily, Crinum Lily, Swamp Lily
Scientific Name: Crinum pedunculatum
Derivation of name
Crinum - is derived from the Greek word Crinon, a lily
pedunculatum - from Latin pedunculatus, meaning “with a peduncle", referring to the long flower stalks
Description
- Is a large bulbous perennial herb
- Grows 1-2m tall and occur in Queensland and New South Wales
- They have thick, fleshy, strap leaves 1-2m long and 15cm wide with blunt points
- The white perfumed, spidery flowers occur in spring and summer and are 10cm across in clusters of 10-25
- The flowers are followed by golf ball sized fruit 2 to 5cm across
- It is a very versatile and hardy plant which can be grown in full sun to half shade and tolerates poor drainage and clay soils and easily grown from seed
- The smooth black, white and yellow striped caterpillars of the moth Spodoptera picta may demolish a young plant very quickly
- Snails and slugs also like the leaves
Human uses
Aboriginal people used this plant as one of the treatments for the sting of Box jellyfish at Bingil Bay in northern Queensland by rubbing crushed material of this plant on the stings. The plant contains an alkaloid, lycorine, which may be responsible for its effect, although it is certainly not claimed to give a complete cure. This plant was also used to produce lures for fishing. The stem or 'lily root' as it was more commonly known was retted and the resultant pale-coloured fibrous material was attached to the line around the hook. When trailed from a moving boat this lure attracted fish such as mackerel.
Acknowledgment: Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) ANPSA
Photo: Tatiana Gerus