General Information

COMMON NAMES: Grand Crinum, Poison-bulb Lily, White Crinum, White Crinum-Lily TRADITIONAL NAMES: Riri (RR MG AT MK MT AK TW RK), Lily (PL), Lili (TS), Riri Makita (MH), Lili Wowolo (PK NS); Other Polynesian - Lau Talotalo (SAM) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Asia - PNG - Australia COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group - common; N.Group - uncommon; Land, lowlands SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers and leaves; Poisonous to eat - serious KEY FEATURES: Fleshy herb to 200cm. STALK cylindrical, to 50cm. LEAVES sword-like, to 120x15cm, stiff, erect to spreading, green. FLOWERS stalk to 70cm with 20-150 flowers; flower stalk 2cm; flower fragrant, white to red, erect tube to 10cm, with linear petals (=lobes) to 75x10mm, style usually equal stamen-length. FRUIT near round, green, with beak. There are cultivars with reddish leaves and flowers. SIMILAR SPECIES: Crinum augustum has outside of flower purple (vs. white), petals (=lobes) tapering (vs. linear); without fruit (vs. with fruit); Crinum xanthophyllum has leaves yellow (vs. green or reddish-green).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	++	++	+	+		+		-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	P	+	+++	+	P

Crinum asiaticum Ker-Grawler non Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Crinum pedunculatum [incl. TC]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Liliales; LILIACEAE. COMMENT: Also placed in AMARYLLIDACEAE. The large Crinum lilies, of the subgenus Stenaster, are taxonomically confusing. They include forms with flowers stalked (=pedicelled), flowers 20-150, flowers white to red, leaves green to red-green, fruits present to absent, fruits with or without terminal beak, and to 2m high. This database follows Hannibal (c.1997): (1) all forms with slender, strap-like petals, fruit beaked, and flowers white or red are listed as Crinum asiaticum sensu Ker-Grawler non Linnaeus (including Crinum peduculatum R.Brown. and Crinum procerum (Carey) reduced to varieties), except the yellow-leaved form, which is maintained as Crinum xanthophyllum Hannibal; and (2) all forms with wider tapering petals, pure white or with red, that doNOT develop fruit, are listed as Crinum augustum Roxburgh (including Crinum amabile Donn).

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Crinum asiaticum.

References:
p.219 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.333 Hortus 3rd
p.316 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.63 Tropica
p.1/157 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.299 R Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.29 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.398e Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a, zD02, zupD04a

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images