Pyrolirion

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{For|the African and Asian flame lilies|Gloriosa (plant)}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = 1724 Pyrolirion arvense.jpg |image_caption=golden flame lily (''Pyrolirion arvense'')<ref>1835 illustration from Edwards's Botanical Register; Consisting of Coloured Figures of Exotic Plants Cultivated in British Gardens; with their History and Mode of Treatment. London 20: t. 1724. As ''Pyrolirion aureum''</ref> |taxon = Pyrolirion |authority = Herb. |synonyms_ref=<ref name=j>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/synonomy.do?name_id=284941 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> |synonyms=''Leucothauma'' Ravenna |name=Fire lilies Flame lilies |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = See here }}

'''''Pyrolirion''''', commonly known as '''fire lilies''' or '''flame lilies''',<ref name = "RHS">''Pyrolirion'' fire lily. (n.d.). Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/160769/pyrolirion/details</ref> is a small genus of herbaceous,<ref name = "EOL" /> bulbous<ref name = "Rand, 1873" /> South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia,<ref>Herbert, William 1821. Appendix to Botanical Register, page 37</ref><ref name = "Tropicos">Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-af). ''Pyrolirion'' Herb. Tropicos. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40021379</ref> and Ecuador.<ref name = "Oleas et al., 2025">Oleas, N. H., Jost, L., Zambrano, R., Torres, C. G., Heredia, J., Bustamante, M., ... & Quintana, C. (2025). [https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/140459/download/pdf/ First records of the genus ''Pyrolirion'' Herb.(Liliopsida, Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae) in Ecuador.] Check List, 21(1), 142-147.</ref>

==Description== ===Vegetative characteristics=== ''Pyrolirion'' are bulbous,<ref name = "Rand, 1873">Rand, E. S. (1873). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Bulbs/GcRLAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA210&printsec=frontcover Bulbs: A Treatise on Hardy and Tender Bulbs and Tubers.] p. 210. USA: Shepard and Gill.</ref> herbs<ref name = "EOL">''Pyrolirion''. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://eol.org/pages/30182</ref> with tunicate bulbs<ref name = "Lemaire, 1854">Lemaire, C. A. (1854). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Le_Jardin_fleuriste/hO8XAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PP337&printsec=frontcover Le Jardin fleuriste: journal général des progrés et des intérets horticoles et botaniques ....] Belgien: F. et E. Gyselynck.</ref> and slim,<ref name = "Kosteletzky, 1831" /> annual, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998" /> The bulbs produce offsets.<ref name = "Henderson, 1881" /><ref name = "Howard, 2010" /> ===Generative characteristics=== The white,<ref name = "Howard, 2010">Howard, T. M. (2010). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Bulbs_for_Warm_Climates/5AXYEAAAQBAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA128&printsec=frontcover Bulbs for Warm Climates.] p. 128. Deutschland: University of Texas Press.</ref> orange or yellow flowers<ref name = "Henderson, 1881">Henderson, P. (1881). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Handbook_of_Plants_and_General_Horticult/c1YZAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA182&printsec=frontcover Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture.] p. 182. USA: (n.p.).</ref> are borne erect on solitary hollow scapes. The perigone is funnel-shaped, with a cylindrical tube that flares out abruptly into star-like radially arranged (actinomorphic) petals. Small scale-like "paraperigone" may be present at the base.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998">{{cite book|editor=Klaus Kubitzki |chapter=Amaryllidaceae|author=A.W. Meerow & D.A. Snijman|title =Flowering plants, Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae)|publisher =Springer|volume=III|year =1998|page=103|isbn =978-3-540-64060-8|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=FyPVYzL76sMC&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA103}}</ref> The flower has 6 tepals.<ref name = "Kosteletzky, 1831">Kosteletzky, V. F. (1831). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Allgemeine_medizinisch_pharmazeutische_F/Abw8AAAAcAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA143&printsec=frontcover Allgemeine medizinisch-pharmazeutische Flora, enthaltend die systematische Aufzählung und Beschreibung sämmtlicher bis jetzt bekannt gewordenen Gewächse aller Welttheile in ihrer Beziehung auf Diätetik, Therapie und Pharmazie nach den natürlichen Familien des Gewächsreiches geordnet.] p. 143. Deutschland: Hoff.</ref> The androecium consists of 6 stamens.<ref name = "Sweet & Don, 1839">Sweet, R., Don, G. (1839). [https://www.google.de/books/edition/Hortus_Britannicus/xP4CAAAAYAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA675&printsec=frontcover Hortus Britannicus.] p. 675. Vereinigtes Königreich: J. Ridgway.</ref><ref name = "Lemaire, 1854" /> The stamens arise from or below the throat.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998" /> The gynoecium consists of 3 carpels.<ref name = "Lemaire, 1854" /> The style has three branches at the tip with spoon-shaped (spatulate) stigmas.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998" /> The capsule fruit bears discoid,<ref name = "Botanischer Jahresbericht, 1882">[https://www.google.de/books/edition/Just_s_botanischer_jahresbericht/5gdVAAAAMAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover Just's botanischer jahresbericht: Systematisch geordnetes repertorium der botanischen literatur aller länder.] p. 21. (1882). Deutschland: Gebr. Borntraeger.</ref> compressed, black seeds with a white raphe.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998" /> ===Cytology=== Various chromosome counts have been reported: 2n = 26, 34, 51, 54.<ref name = "Meerow & Snijman, 1998" />

==Taxonomy== The genus ''Pyrolirion'' was first established by the British botanist William Herbert in 1837.<ref name="herb">{{cite book|author=William Herbert|title =Amaryllidaceae: preceded by an attempt to arrange the monocotyledonous orders, and followed by a treatise on cross-bred vegetables, and supplement |publisher =James Ridgway & Sons|year =1863|pages=183–185|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=EusCAAAAYAAJ&dq=pyrolirion%20william%20herbert&pg=PA183}}</ref> The name ''Pyrolirion'' is from Greek πῦρ (''pyr'', "fire") and λείριον (''leirion'', "lily"). It is named after the flame-like colors of the flowers of ''Pyrolirion arvense'' (the golden flame lily).<ref name="mcn">{{cite book|author=David H. McNicoll|title =Dictionary of natural history terms with their derivations: including the various orders, genera, and species|publisher =Lovell Reeve & Co.|year =1863|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatur00nicogoog/page/n446 435]|url =https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatur00nicogoog|quote=Pyrolirion.}}</ref><ref name="gled">{{cite book|author=David Gledhill|title =The Names of Plants|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year =2008|page=322|isbn =978-0-521-86645-3|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC&dq=Pyrolirion&pg=PA322}}</ref>

''Pyrolirion'' is classified under the tribe Eustephieae of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae, family Amaryllidaceae. It was previously sometimes considered by some authors as a subgenus of ''Zephyranthes'' (rain lilies), but DNA sequencing has shown that it is a distinct genus more closely related to the genera ''Chlidanthus'', ''Eustephia'', and ''Hieronymiella'' in the tribe Eustephieae than to members of the tribe Hippeastreae.<ref name="am2">{{cite web|url=http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Hippeastreae.htm|title=Hippeastreae|language=French|publisher=Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB)|accessdate=November 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024095533/http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Hippeastreae.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="pbs">{{cite web|url=http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Pyrolirion|title=''Pyrolirion''|publisher=Pacific Bulb Society|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}</ref>

===Species=== The species-level classification of ''Pyrolirion'' is unclear and in need of further study. The following are accepted at present (April 2015)<ref name=j/><ref name="amar">{{cite web|url=http://www.amaryllidaceae.org/Pyrolirion/index.htm|title=''Pyrolirion''|language=French|publisher=Amaryllidaceae.org, Société Française des Iris et plantes Bulbeuses (SFIB)|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}</ref><ref name="pl">{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Amaryllidaceae/Pyrolirion/|title=''Pyrolirion''|publisher=The Plant List: A working list of all plant species|accessdate=November 29, 2011}}</ref> # ''Pyrolirion albicans'' Herb. – Peru (Arequipa) # ''Pyrolirion arvense'' (F.Dietr.) – Peru (Cusco, Lima) # ''Pyrolirion boliviense'' (Baker) Sealy – Bolivia (Cochabamba, La Paz) # ''Pyrolirion cutleri'' (Cárdenas) Ravenna – Bolivia (Cochabamba) # ''Pyrolirion flavum'' Herb. – Peru (Cusco, Lima) # ''Pyrolirion huantae'' Ravenna – Peru # ''Pyrolirion tarahuasicum'' Ravenna – Peru # ''Pyrolirion tubiflorum'' (L'Hér.) M.Roem. – Peru, Chile, Ecuador

==Cultivation== It is not widely cultivated.<ref name = "Cowley, 1989">Cowley, J. (1989). [https://inpn.mnhn.fr/docs-web/docs/download/186649 127. ''Pyrolirion tubiflorum'': Amaryllidaceae.] The Kew Magazine, 6(3), 95-101.</ref> It requires a period of dormancy in winter.<ref name = "Henderson, 1881" /><ref name = "Rand, 1873" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Amaryllidoideae Category:Amaryllidaceae genera Category:Flora of Southern America Category:Flora of Ecuador Category:Flora of Chile Category:Flora of Peru Category:Flora of Bolivia Category:Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist)