Ismene, or Peruvian daffodil, is a genus of South American plants in the Amaryllis family.[6] The species are native to Peru and Ecuador and widely cultivated elsewhere as ornamentals because of their large, showy flowers.[7][8]
Ismene produces tender perennial bulbs bearing a strong resemblance to those of Hymenocallis, a genus into which Ismene had often been grouped in the past. However, its morphology differs from Hymenocallis in several significant ways: its vegetative parts, natural range, and chromosome number are all distinct.
Ismene can be difficult to grow in the United States.[9]
Species
A list of Ismene species and their geographic distribution is given below.[5]
It is closely related to Leptochiton and Hymenocallis, from which it separated 26.14 million years ago. The separation of Leptochiton and Hymenocallis occurred 24.46 million years ago.[1]
^Herbert, William 1821. An Appendix: [General index to the Botanical magazine, vol. 43-48 containing a treatise on bulbous roots] page 45
^Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744.
^Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. (eds.) 1993. Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
^Howard, Thad M. Bulbs for Warm Climates. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2001, pp 98–99.
.jpg)
