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Amaryllidaceae FAMILY

Lycoris radiata

Lycoris radiata

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The bulb contains toxins and must be leached before it is used for food[1, 2]. Bulbs contain 2 inactive alkaloids[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Lycoris radiata is cold-hardy to at least -15°c[4]. Other reports say that the bulb tolerates soil temperatures down to about -5°c[5, 6]. This is a difficult plant to grow outdoors in temperate areas, the plant comes into growth in late summer, flowers in the autumn and the leaves then persist until the following summer when the plant will have a short period of dormancy. These leaves can be killed by hard frosts and, should this happen often, the bulb will be weakened and killed[4, 6]. Plants therefore require a sheltered position to avoid damage to the growing leaves in the winter[4]. Plants need a warm period in late summer in order to ripen the bulbs and induce flowering in the following year[7]. Requires a deep well-drained sandy soil rich in organic matter in full sun[4]. Plants are attractive to slugs and need to be protected from them[4]. Very sensitive to root disturbance, the bulbs can take some years to become well established[4]. This plant is superficially similar to Nerine sarnensis and is often confused with that species[4].

Propagation

The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse and should germinate in the spring[4]. Sow the seed thinly so that it does not need to be disturbed for its first year of growth. Give an occasional liquid feed during the growing season to ensure the plants do not become nutrient deficient. Pot up the small bulbs when the plants become dormant, placing 2 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another 2 years in the greenhouse before planting them out when they are dormant. Division of offsets in the dormant season[4]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lycoris+radiata>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  2. [2]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  3. [3]Famine Foods listed in the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. — Reid. B. E. · Southern Materials Centre; Taipei · 1977 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. — Matthews. V. · Royal Horticultural Society · 1994 · ISBN 1352-4186 ↩︎A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.
  6. [6]Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books, London. · 1998 · ISBN 0-330-37376-5 ↩︎Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.
  7. [7]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  8. [8]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  9. [9]Plant Sources of Galanthamine: Phytochemical and Biotechnological Aspects — Berkov S. et al · 2009 · https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2009.10817633 · ISBN 1310-2818 ↩︎
  10. [10]Flora of Japan. (English translation) — Ohwi. G. · Smithsonian Institution · 1965 · ISBN - ↩︎The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  12. [12]Galanthamine from snowdrop—the development of a modern drug against Alzheimer’s disease from local Caucasian knowled — Heinrich M. & Teoh H.L. · 2004 · http://10.1016/j.jep.2004.02.012 ↩︎
  13. [13]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  14. [14]Atlas of Medicinal Plants. — Kariyone. T. · Nihon Rinshosha; Osaka · 1973 ↩︎A good Japanese herbal.
  15. [15]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
  16. [16]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]Cytotoxicity and Pharmacogenomics of Medicinal Plants from Traditional Korean Medicine — Kuete V.; Ean-Jeong Seo; Krusche B.; Oswald M.; Wiench B.; S · Hindawi Publishing Corporation · 2013 · http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/341724 ↩︎