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Zephyranthes rosea

Riri

Rose Rain Lily

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Image:	Flower	74KB
Image:	Flower and leaves	60KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Rose Rain Lily, Zephyranthes, Flower-of-the-west-wind, Zephyr Flower, Fairy Lily

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Riri (RR MG AT MT TW MH RK), Riri ‘Ōniāni (MK), Lily (PL), Lili (TS PK NS)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cuba

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens - lawns

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: Upright short-lived herb. LEAVES basal, strape-like, to 15cmx6mm. FLOWERS: STALK (=scape) hollow to 15cm, much longer than 'enclosing' spathe; FLOWERS funnel-shaped, to 4cmØ; PETALS 6, oval 3x1cm, rose-red outer half; STIGMA much longer than anthers, 3 distal brancbes. SEED CAPSULES 3, 4mmØ, black seeds.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Yellow Rain Lily (Zephyrathes citrina) has yellow flowers (vs rose-red), and narrow leaves to 4mm (vs 6mm). Zephyranthes grandiflora has rose-red flower much larger to 10cmØ (vs 4cmØ); and flower-stalk = spathe (vs mucher longer).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Zephyranthes rosea Lindl.
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Liliales; LILIACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimens, 2/2004, very common, ID GMcC.

References:
p.218 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1183 Hortus 3rd
p.1231 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.398e Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

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

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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