Description
Botanical Name: Hymenocallis occidentalis
Common Name: Northern Spiderlily, Woodland Spiderlily, Hammock Spiderlily
Description: This beauty is native to only four counties in Florida: Gadsden, Liberty, Leon, and Jefferson. There are a total of 14 different Hymenocallis species native to Florida.
Northern Spiderlily is a deciduous, clump forming wildflower. Its very showy, fragrant, white flowers look somewhat like daffodils with six long, thin tepals. The 1 – 2 feet long leaves are narrow and straplike. Don’t be surprised if the foliage dies back after it finishes blooming. But don’t worry, the leaves will show back up in late winter. It has a moderate growth rate. Each individual flower lasts only one day, but it blooms in clusters of 5-10 starting around July through about September. The flowers bloom from the top of a leafless stalk. Is a long-lived perennial.
It’s a showy addition to the edges of ponds, rain gardens, boggy areas, low spots, etc. The natural habitat for it is in floodplain forests, hammocks, wet meadows, and mesic forests. So it likes a moist to wet, moderately well-drained soil to periodically inundated soils. It can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive. It needs to be given supplemental water during long drought times. Can grow in sand, loam, limestone, and mucky/organic soils. Can be grown in containers, but be sure to not let the soil dry out too much.
Plant this in sun, part sun, part shade areas of your garden. It likes to have some shade from our hot afternoon summer sun. The more sun it’s in, the more water it’ll need.
All kinds of pollinators are attracted to the flowers, including butterflies, moths, bees, hummingbirds, and songbirds. The leaves and bulb are poisonous to humans and animals if eaten. Is considered deer resistant.
Has low to no tolerance for salt or brackish water, and low to no tolerance for salt wind.
This plant in 1-gallon containers is 5 – 12 inches tall.
Plant Lore: Genus name comes from the Greek words hymen meaning a membrane and kallos meaning beauty in allusion to the membrane uniting the stamens.
Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 9
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