Rain Lily

Overview

Rain lily is an amaryllidaceous bulbous herb native to South America (Northeastern Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay). The plant is widely cultivated as an ornamental flower and used as a medicinal plant in mainland China, Java and India. In the wild, plants often burst into bloom immediately following periods of significant rain, hence the common name.

Vernacular Names

Azucenita (Spanish), Weiße Windblume (German).

Agroecology

Prefers full sun to partial shade. It is able to survive in occasionally wet, clay, sand, acidic, loam, and slightly alkaline soil conditions. It has high drought tolerance and poor salt tolerance. It grows in shady moist localities.

Morphology

• Leaves - simple, sessile, erect or recumbent, with overlapping sheathing bases, blade linear , rarely exceeding 1 cm wide, smooth .
• Inflorescence - solitary, flowered (rarely 2-flowered in Z. drummondii), spathaceous , otherwise ebracteate ; spathe proximally tubular.
• Flowers - erect to declinate , actinomorphic ; perianth subrotate to funnelform to salverform, connate basally into tube , 2-16 cm; tepals subequal ; stamens 6, of 2 different lengths, appearing equal or subequal to unequal.
• Fruits - capsular, thin-walled, 3-locular, subglobose or ± oblate .
• Seeds - numerous , black, flat, D- or wedge- shaped, lustro.

Cultivation

Propagation is done by dividing bulbs or offsets and from seed.

Chemical Constituents

Ceramides, alkaloids (haemanthamin, 3- epimacronine, (+)-tazettine, Nmethylcrinasiadine, trisphaeridine, 5,6- dihydrobicolorine, lycorine, and nigragillin), trans-dihydronarciclasine.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Considered anticancer, analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, antitumor, antiviral, and cytotoxic activities.
• The whole plants of Z. candida are used to treat infantile convulsions, epilepsy, and tetanus.
• The flowers are then mashed paste on the brow edge proved to be able to reduce high body heat in children.
• Relieve insomnia (leaves), as a headache remedy (whole plant), launch the menstrual cycle (flower).
• To overcome late menstruation, skin mashed brown flower plants. Mix it with hot water, drink as a tea.
• Rain lily early stage turns out to be also effective in addressing impaired liver function. With enough drinking water decoction of the plant is 10 grams. Do regularly until symptoms diminish and disappear.