| from the July 25, 2010 Newsletter issued from Hacienda
Chichen Resort beside Chichén Itzá Ruins, central Yucatán, MÉXICO TURF LILY FLOWERING Here and there around Hacienda Chichen there's an attractive plant potted that's begun flowering. At first I thought it was an ornamental, variegated grass, but as soon as the flowers appeared it was clear that they were something else. You can see one of the plants with its racemes of white flowers below:
A close-up of a 3/16th-inch-long flower (5 mm) with one side removed to reveal its sexual parts is below:
This flower with its six tepals (undifferentiated petals and sepals), six stamens arising below the superior, three-celled ovary tipped with a three- toothed stigma (white, barely visible against white background, extending above the anthers) immediately puts one in mind of the Lily Family. In fact, this is one of several ornamental cultivars known as turf lilies, LIRIOPE MUSCARI. The basic Liriope muscari, originally from China and Japan, bears lilac-purple flowers and is not variegated. Another very similar and popular turf lily is Liriope spicata, also represented by several cultivars. Its blades only are only about ¼-inch wide (6 mm) while our L. muscari leaves are 1/3 to one inch wide (8-25 mm). Several turf lily cultivars of both species, all fairly shade-tolerant, are pictured at http://www.plantsforshade.co.uk/acatalog/Liriope.html. Earlier Liriope was placed in the Lily Family, but more recently it's been bounced around, sometimes in the Convallariaceae, other times in the Ruscaceae. Sometimes organisms just don't fit human pigeonholes. |
