.jpg)
Perennial bulbous plant of the Amaryllidaceae family, Hymenocallis harrisiana is native to Mexico, where it grows in semi-arid, seasonally dry areas, on rocky slopes, stony embankments, and the edges of light forests in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. It belongs to the group of "spider lilies," so named for the astonishing silhouette of their flowers.
The plant develops ribbon-like, upright leaves, of a bright green, forming a moderately dense basal tuft. The robust floral stem bears one to a few flowers of immediately striking architecture: six narrow, elongated, and recurved tepals, of pure white, radiate around a central funnel-shaped crown — the characteristic staminal cup of the genus — from which emerge long filaments with golden anthers. The whole evokes a white star with supple arms, of an almost unreal lightness.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from the end of the dry season to the beginning of the rainy season, generally between March and May.
In cultivation, it prefers well-drained soil, in full sun or light partial shade. In the Landes, the bulbs can be left in the ground without special winter protection, which demonstrates a hardiness superior to what is usually attributed to it under a mild oceanic climate. Flowering occurs in spring or early summer depending on conditions.