Thank you to shotaku@Flickr from Missouri, USA for sharing a photograph from last summer (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Much appreciated!
Lycoris squamigera has several common names: resurrection lily, surprise lily and magic lily, to name a few. The names reflect the short span of time between the flower stalk first emerging above the soil to full-flower, perhaps taking only four or five days. The leaves are absent when the plant flowers, adding to the notion of surprise. This pattern of asynchronous leafing and flowering is also seen with Colchicum, illustrated in two unrelated photographs: flowers and leaves.
For the gardeners among you, the Kemper Center for Home Gardening has a brief factsheet on Lycoris squamigera. Photographs of various species, cultivars, and hybrids within the genus, including Lycoris squamigera, are available from the Pacific Bulb Society Wiki: Lycoris. The PBSWiki also notes the taxon is possibly a natural hybrid (occurring in nature), but conflicting information doesn't provide a clear picture as to what the parent species are; in any case, this hybrid is thought to have origins in China or Japan.
Probably hybridity is suggested because of the comparatively large, Crinum- or Amaryllis-like petals.
Lycoris squamigera - Z5 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Lycoris squamigera - Z6-10 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Lycoris li-ko-ris After Lycoris, a beautiful Roman actress and mistress of Marc Anthony. squamigera skwah-mi-ge-ra Scaly [?the bulb.] Dictionary of Plant Names, Coombes
beautiful! In my opinion it's hard to beat flowers for exquisite beauty.
Interesting summary of Lycoris in cultivation here
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~davcooke/lycoris.htm
For those with a print on paper preference, the book "A Tree, a Blade of Grass" photographs by Shinzo Maeda (published by Taschen, 1993) will delight and for many, invert their world , after seeing the illustration on page 142.
The photo here shows a bloom that appears a bit more dainty than what I grow. The one I have, which I brought with me to Oregon from my grandparents property in the suburbs of Cincinnati , appears far more like the one in the MoBot informational page referenced in the text.
I'm not sure about the chromosome counts, but could Amaryllis belladonna be a parent? To me, they more strongly resemble this species than they do any other member of genus Lycoris.
I am aware of two other common names for this species, "Naked Ladies" and "Mystery Lilies". I remember my Grandfather calling them by the former and I, having heard my Mother (his daughter) always refer red to them by the latter, "corrected" him on the name.
To that, my Grandfather simply replied, "there is nothing mysterious about a naked lady."
a lovely flower this sunday morn
i like to come here at the end of the day
find my personal favorites and relax a bit
I have grown this wonderful plant in my Maine (Z4) garden for many years. In fall I look for it each day on my garden walks and it always seems to appear out of nowhere as if it had emerged and bloomed overnight.