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Common Name: Spider Lily

General Information

Lycoris radiata is a Bulb up to 0.50 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine

Known Hazards

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

Botanical References

,

Range

E. Asia - South-eastern China and southern Japan.

Habitat

By cultivated fields and in meadows in the lowland and hills of C. and S. Japan[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	0.50 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a deep well-drained sandy soil rich in organic matter in full sun[].
This species is hardy to at least -15°c[]. Other reports say that the bulb tolerates soil temperatures down to about -5°c[, ]. 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[, ]. Plants therefore require a sheltered position to avoid damage to the growing leaves in the winter[]. Plants need a warm period in late summer in order to ripen the bulbs and induce flowering in the following year[].
Plants are attractive to slugs and need to be protected from them[].
Very sensitive to root disturbance, the bulbs can take some years to become well established[].
This plant is superficially similar to Nerine sarnensis and is often confused with that species[].

Edible Uses

Bulb - cooked. It is used as a source of starch[, , ]. The bulb is 2.5 to 3.5cm in diameter[]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal

The root is used in the treatment of swellings, ulcers and the nervous afflictions of children[].

The bulb is emetic and expectorant[, , ], a decoction is used to counteract poison[] and is also applied to ulcers and swellings[, ]. The bulb can be made into a plaster and is then applied to burns and scalds[].

The plant is said to have anticancer properties[].
The leaves and underground parts of the plant contain various medicinally active compounds that have cytotoxic properties and are of potential use in the treatment of cancer[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse and should germinate in the spring[]. 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[].