Lycoris radiata is a bulb plant - are you familiar with this flower?

Other names for Lycoris radiata

Meaningless grass, dragon claw flower, ghost-raising fire, phantom flower, hell flower, shizi flower, shanwudu, flower of life and death, flower that does not see its leaves, ghost-held umbrella, soul-guiding flower, guiding flower, Wangchuan flower, shisuan, red-flowered shisuan, etc.

Morphological characteristics

Lycoris radiata is a perennial herbaceous flower of the Amaryllidaceae family. The flower is like a dragon claw. It has a bulb shaped like an onion; the leaves grow in clusters, slender with pointed tips, resembling garlic leaves, fleshy, strap-shaped, blue-green with a white powdery coating; the flower scape is solitary, with a terminal umbel. At the turn of summer and autumn, the flower scape breaks through the soil, with a terminal umbel bearing 5 to 7 flowers, brilliantly red and unusual (besides red, there is also a white variety), with petals curled backward like dragon claws. It blooms first and then grows leaves; the leaves do not fall in winter, and the leaves fall and it goes dormant in summer. Because the flower and leaves cannot meet, shisuan is also called the "heartless and faithless" flower. The three days before and after the spring equinox are called spring Higan, and the three days before and after the autumn equinox are called autumn Higan. Lycoris radiata blooms during autumn Higan, very punctually, which is why it is called Higan flower.

Growth habits of Lycoris radiata

Wild varieties of Lycoris radiata grow in gloomy, damp places (graves or roadside in the countryside), and their growing sites are red soil, so they are highly cold-tolerant, prefer shade, and can endure a high-temperature limit of a daily average temperature of 24°C; they like moisture and are also drought-tolerant, accustomed to acidic soil, with loose, fertile humus soil being best. They have a habit of summer dormancy and are extremely easy to propagate; usually a single shisuan can easily develop into a patch of shisuan.

The flower language and legends of Lycoris radiata

In Japan, the three days before and after the autumn equinox are called autumn Higan, which is the day for Japanese people to visit graves. Lycoris radiata blooms during autumn Higan, very punctually, which is why it is called Higan flower. The flower language of Lycoris radiata is sad memories.

Lycoris radiata is a flower that voluntarily entered hell, was sent back by the demons, but still lingered on the road to the underworld. The demons could not bear it, so they agreed to let her bloom on this road, giving guidance and comfort to the souls leaving the human world. The colors are divided into blood red and white; yellow and peach red are shisuan, and there is no purple, blue, or black. Enma Ai in Hell Girl likes this kind of flower, and its flower language is the tenderness of demons.

Snow-white and blood-red Lycoris radiata together represent death. It is said that mandala flowers bloom on the road to heaven, while manjusaka covers the road to hell. One flower language of mandala flower is "a letter from heaven," and one flower language of manjusaka is "the call of hell." Both represent death, yet one leans toward another interpretation of death: rebirth, while the other leans toward hesitation and wandering over pain and regret: fall. So hell and heaven are separated by only a thin line. The so-called difference between angels and demons is merely color and the meaning carried.

Uses of Lycoris radiata

Red-flowered shisuan is a common ornamental garden plant in East Asia; enjoy its leaves in winter and its flowers in autumn. This flower is mostly used for planting in villa gardens, generally planted in hundreds or thousands together, and it will bloom in large numbers in autumn, with an excellent landscape effect.

Although shisuan is highly ornamental, its rhizome is toxic. The bulb contains the alkaloid lycorine poison, which can cause symptoms such as vomiting and spasms and has a clear effect on the central nervous system. It must not be eaten casually, but it can be used for sedation, inhibition of drug metabolism, and anticancer effects. Despite being toxic, the bulb can be eaten after processing and is also used as medicinal material. Galanthamine extracted from the rhizome of shisuan can be used to treat polio; it has already begun to be used abroad, and experts in our country are also carrying out in-depth research.

The medicinal bulb contains a variety of alkaloids, such as lycorine, lycoramine, galanthamine, and others. It has the effects of dispelling wind and reducing swelling, detoxifying, and fighting cancer. It is used to treat stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, and liver cancer, and has been tried in treating lung cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, and lymphoma.