Lycoris radiata SEEDS

Lycoris radiata seeds grow into the red spider lily or higanbana () a bulbous geophyte native to the subtropical biome from Nepal east through China, Korea to central and southern Japan. Originally described as Amaryllis radiata by L’Hritier de Brutelle (1789) and transferred to Lycoris by William Herbert. Synonyms include Nerine radiata (L’Hr.) Sweet and Nerine japonica Miq. Produces vivid scarlet-red umbels of flowers with dramatically long, wavy, completely reflexed petals and very long, elegantly arching stamens and style, in late summer and early autumn the leaves do not appear until after the flowers wither, so the plant never displays flowers and leaves simultaneously. Deeply significant in Japanese culture, where it is planted on graves, associated with death, the afterlife and a concept of final meeting the name higanbana means ‘flower of the other shore’ or equinox flower. Most cultivated forms are naturally triploid (2n=33) and produce no viable seeds seed production is rare and comes only from chromosomally unusual forms. The seeds offered here are accordingly a rare collector’s item. All parts highly toxic. Family Amaryllidaceae.

Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soils; warm subtropical conditions; leaves appear after flowers wither. All parts highly toxic keep from children and pets.

• Higanbana () = ‘flower of the other shore’; planted on graves in Japan; flower of death and rebirth
• Naturally TRIPLOID normally produces NO viable seeds; seeds offered here are a rare collector’s item
• Nepal to Central & S. Japan subtropical biome; vivid scarlet spider flowers; leaves never appear with flowers
• Originally Amaryllis radiata L’Hr. (1789); Herbert transfer; all parts highly toxic
• Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soils; warm subtropical; Family Amaryllidaceae

Lycoris radiata is the red spider lily one of the most culturally charged plants in East Asia, its vivid scarlet flowers emerging from bare ground in the autumn, deeply woven into Japanese Buddhist and Shinto traditions around death and the afterlife, and producing seeds so rarely (as a naturally sterile triploid) that seed-raised plants represent a true botanical rarity.

IMPORTANT: Pictures show the adult plant, which is not for sale. The offer is only for seeds.