Hymenocallis occidentalis is a plant species native to the southern United States. It is known along the Gulf Coast from South Carolina to Texas, and in the Mississippi Valley as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana.Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map It is also cultivated as an ornamental elsewhere because of its showy, sweet-smelling flowers.Flora of North America vol 26, p 285. Common names include woodland spider-lily, hammock spider-lily or northern spider-lily.
Many of the other U.S. species of the genus grow in wetlands and along streambanks, but H. occidentalis can often be found in mesic forests. Some of the Mexican species (e. g. H. clivorum and H. pimana) can similarly be found some distance from waterways.Laferrière, Joseph E. 1998. A new Hymenocallis (Amaryllidaceae) from Sonora, Mexico. Novon 8:242-243.Laferrière, Joseph E. 1990. Hymenocallis pimana (Amaryllidaceae): a new species from northwestern Mexico. Phytologia 68(4):255-259.Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida i–x, 1–806. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Hymenocallis occidentalis is a bulb-forming perennial herb bearing an umbel of 3-9 showy flowers, each white with a green center, opening one at a time. Leaves are lanceolate, up to 60 cm long and 6 cm wide at their widest points.Traub, Hamilton Paul. 1962. Plant life. Stanford 18: 71, Hymenocallis moldenkeanaLe Conte, John. 1836. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 3: 146, Pancratium occidentale.Kunth, Karl Sigismund. 1850. Enumeratio Plantarum Omnium Hucusque Cognitarum 5: 856. Hymenocallis occidentalis
The name Hymenocallis caroliniana has been frequently misapplied to this species but is properly a synonym of Pancratium maritimum.
Varieties , Plants of the World Online accepted two varieties: Hymenocallis occidentalis var. eulae (Shinners) Ger.L.Sm. & Flory – native to Oklahoma and Texas Hymenocallis occidentalis var. occidentalis – native to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
References
External links photo of specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, type of Hymenocallis moldenkiana, a synonym of H. occidentalis