The naked ladies are all over town to make their annual September appearance. They also go by the names of red spider lily, hurricane lily or surprise lily. The “naked lady” nickname comes because the blooms sprout up on long stems without leaves.
“The blooms appear, seemingly magically, overnight,” says the Aggie Horticulture website by Texas A&M University.
The lilies are also termed as an heirloom plant because they multiply easily and the small bulbs have been passed along through generations in the South. This time of the year, they pop up in unexpected places. The red spider lilies have survived at homesteads where houses have been gone.
Their history dates back to the 1840s when trade with Japan opened and a traveler brought three bulbs back to relatives in the South. The nickname of hurricane lily is because it usually blooms in September, when hurricanes are most frequent. The flowers pop up after a good rain in September.
The scientific name is Lycoris radiata. The flower’s popular names usually include a “lily” designation, but it is not a true lily. The Aggie Horticulture website says it belongs to the amaryllis family. The leaves appear after the flower has died back. Narrow green leaves about a half inch wide with a strip down the middle form. The bulbs will need to get nutrition from the leaves. After the leaves turn yellow in the spring, the leaves can be removed and the bulbs dug up.
The small bulbs are poisonous if eaten. They can cause abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
After planting, the bulbs sometimes take a couple of years, or longer, to bloom. The planter often forgets where the bulbs were and is surprised by the bright red flowers. The reason for another name.
With all the nicknames for the red blooms, maybe people in Orange should call them “carnival lilies.” They bloom when the annual Lions Club Carnival comes around. This year, the carnival will start on Wednesday.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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