Proiphys amboinensis

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox | name = Cardwell lily | taxon = Proiphys amboinensis | image = Cardwell Lilies.JPG | image_caption = In Cooktown, Queensland | authority = (L.) Herb.<ref name=POWO>{{cite POWO | title = ''Proiphys amboinensis'' | id = 66645-1 | access-date = 22 October 2023}}</ref> | synonyms= {{collapsible list| *''Amaryllis rotundifolia'' Lam. *''Cearia amboinensis'' (L.) Dumort. *''Cepa amboinensis'' (L.) Kuntze *''Crinum nervosum'' L'Hér. *''Eurycles alata'' Sweet *''Eurycles amboinensis'' (L.) Lindl. ex Loudon *''Eurycles australasica'' (Ker Gawl.) G.Don *''Eurycles coronata'' Sweet *''Eurycles javanica'' M.Roem. *''Eurycles nervosa'' G.Don *''Eurycles nuda'' Sweet *''Eurycles rotundifolia'' M.Roem. *''Pancratium amboinense'' L.<ref name="SP">{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl von |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |year=1753 |entry=Pancratium amboinense |title=Species Plantarum |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358310#page/303/mode/1up |volume= 1 |page=291 |via= Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref> *''Pancratium australasicum'' Ker Gawl. *''Pancratium nervifolium'' Salisb. *''Pancratium ovatifolium'' Stokes *''Stemonix nervosus'' (L'Hér.) Raf.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rafinesque |first=Constantine Samuel |author-link= Constantine Samuel Rafinesque |date=1833 |title=Stemonix nervosus= |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |publisher=Atlantic Journal, and Friend of Knowledge |page=165}}</ref> }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO"/> }}

'''''Proiphys amboinensis''''' is the type species of the flowering plant genus ''Proiphys''.<ref name="FM"/>{{rp|363}} Its common names include '''Cardwell lily'''<ref name=ATRF>{{cite web | title = ''Proiphys amboinensis'' | url = https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/proiphys_amboinensis.htm | work = Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants | access-date = 22 October 2023}}</ref> and '''northern Christmas lily'''{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} (as it usually flowers around Christmas). It is considered native to Thailand, Indonesia (Maluku, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok, Timor), the Philippines, the Bismark Archipelago, Vanuatu, New Guinea and Australia (Queensland and Western Australia).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp14/proiphys-genus.html |title=The genus ''Proiphys'' |last=Mullins |first=Effie |date=2012 |website=Growing Native Plants |publisher=Australian National Botanic Gardens and Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research |access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref> It is also naturalized in Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Niue, Society Islands, Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands.<ref name=POWO/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fay |first1=Michael F. |last2=Chase |first2=Mark W. |date=1996 |title=Resurrection of Themidaceae for the ''Brodiaea'' alliance, and Recircumscription of Alliaceae, Amaryllidaceae and Agapanthoideae |journal=Taxon |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=441–451 |doi= 10.2307/1224136|jstor=1224136 }}</ref>

== Taxonomy == Its species epithet ''amboinensis'' was named after the island of Ambonia, now Ambon in Indonesia.<ref name="SP"/>

== Description == The Caldwell lily grows on seashores and rocky places up to an altitude of 500 metres.<ref name="FM">{{cite journal |last1=Geernick |first1=D. J. L. |title=Amaryllidaceae |date=1993 |url=https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/532603 |journal=Flora Malesiana |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages= 353–373 |via=Naturalis Institutional Repository}}</ref>{{rp|366}} It prefers open, lightly shaded rainforests.<ref name="FPoCaNA" />{{page needed|date=March 2024}} It grows from a bulb measuring up to 8 centimetres in diameter;<ref name="ALA">{{Cite web |url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:306345 |title=''Proiphys amboinensis'' (L.) Herb. |website=Atlas of Living Australia |publisher=National Research Infrastructure of Australia |access-date=7 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045130/http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:306345 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> it grows quickly after the arrival of the wet season in Australia.<ref name="FPoCaNA">{{cite book |last=Scarth-Johnson |first=Vera |year=2000 |title=National Treasures: Flowering Plants of Cooktown and Northern Australia |location= |publisher=Vera Scarth-Johnson Gallery Association |page= |isbn=0-646-39726-5}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2024}} Its leaves are ovate and nearly circular measuring 20–30 cm long and 15–35 cm wide from stalks between 15 and 60 centimetres long.<ref name="FM" />{{rp|366}}<ref name="ALA" /> The leaves die away in the dry season.

=== Umbel === thumb|Cardwell lily flower umbel

A total of 5–25 white flowers grow in an umbel on stalks over between 15 and 90 cm long,<ref name="FM" />{{rp|366}} each flower is trumpet shaped and release a pleasant scent with filaments 2–3 mm long.<ref name="ALA"/> Flowering in Australia typically begins in late December while flowering season in India is from May to June.

Fruit produced from pollination are green to blackish capsules 25–30 mm across.<ref>Beasley, John. 2006. ''Plants of Tropical North Queensland: the Compact Guide''. Footloose Publications, Kuranda. {{ISBN|1-876617-13-6}}.</ref><ref>Herbert, William. 1821. Appendix 42, ''Proiphys amboinensis''</ref><ref name="ALA"/>

== Cultivation and uses == It is a good container plant that needs much water in the growing season. Propagate from seed or lift the bulb.<ref name="FPoCaNA"/>

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Amaryllidoideae Category:Flora of Papuasia Category:Flora of Malesia Category:Flora of Thailand Category:Flora of Vanuatu Category:Asparagales of Australia