| Resurrection lily | |
|---|---|
| Flowers | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| clade: | Angiosperms |
| clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Amaryllidoideae |
| Genus: | Lycoris |
| Species: | L. squamigera |
| Binomial name | |
| Lycoris squamigera |
|
Lycoris squamigera (resurrection lily) is a plant in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.[1]
Lycoris squamigera is believed to have originated in Japan or China, perhaps a hybrid between Lycoris straminea and Lycoris incarnata.[2] It is a herbaceous plant with basal, simple leaves, which are not present when the flowers emerge from the crown. The leaves sprout and grow in the spring, then die back during June. Then in late July or early August the flowers appear. The flowers are white or pink and fragrant. The flowers spring dramatically from the ground in mid to late summer; it usually takes only four to five days from first emergence to full bloom. This suddenness is reflected in its common names: surprise lily, magic lily, and resurrection lily. It is also sometimes referred to as naked ladies. In Japanese it is called 狐のかみそり (kitsune no kamisori) which means fox's razor.
The resurrection lily is featured in the manga Bride of the Water God by Yun Mi-kyung, where it is used symbolically to represent the character Nakbin, while Yeowa, is compared to the spider lily, which looks similar but is poisonous.