Red spider lily

What’s in a name?
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Lycoris radiata

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Nom: It’s a red spider lily. Lycoris radiata. It’s in the amaryllis family.

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De Bloom: But it doesn't look like an amaryllis. It’s not a big trumpet flower. It looks like a swoopy space invader.

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Nom: Big family. A lot of variety in the flowers.  Ranging from daffodils to onions and garlic.

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De Bloom: Garlic?

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Nom: Amaryllidaceae. In Chinese it’s called mànzhū shā huá (曼珠沙華), in Japanese it’s called higanbana (彼岸花). Loosely meaning, ominous flowers that grow in hell. Connotations with parting and death. Shouldn’t give them as a gift.

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Voice-over

Lycoris radiata is a bulbous perennial. The red flowers usually appear before the leaves. Blooms are irregular, stamens sweeping backwards. Bulbs are poisonous, grown around paddy fields and waterways in Japan, keeping rat numbers down.

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