Crinum flaccidum

Crinum flaccidum, known variously as the Darling lily, Murray lily or Macquarie lily, is a species of the family Amaryllidae native to inland Australia.[1] The Darling river people — the Paakantyi — called this plant paalampaltharu.[2]

Crinum flaccidum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae
Genus: Crinum
Species:
C. flaccidum
Binomial name
Crinum flaccidum
Herb.[1]

Taxonomy

In the 1889 book The useful native plants of Australia, the botanist Joseph Henry Maiden wrote:

"This exceedingly handsome white-flowered plant, which grows back from the Darling, has bulbs which yield a fair arrowroot. On one occasion, near the town of Wilcannia, a man earned a handsome sum by making this substance when flour was all but unobtainable.

South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland."[3]

Maiden also gave three synonyms:

  • Crinum flaccidum Herb.
  • Amaryllis australasica Ker
  • Crinum australis Spreng.[3]

Uses

It is rich in starch. The root is cooked and then eaten. It is used as a source of arrowroot.[4]

References
  1. "Crinum flaccidum Herb". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  2. Hercus, Luise Anna (2011). Paakantyi Dictionary. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. p. 63.
  3. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney. p. 20.
  4. "Crinum flaccidum - Useful Tropical Plants". tropical.theferns.info. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
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