Ismene

Ismene, or Peruvian daffodil, is a genus of South American plants in the Amaryllis family. The species are native to Peru and Ecuador and widely cultivated elsewhere as ornamentals because of their large, showy flowers. 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. Species A list of Ismene species and their geographic distribution is given below. Ismene amancaes (Ruiz & Pav.) Herb – western Peru Ismene hawkesii (Vargas) Gereau & Meerow – Cusco, Peru Ismene longipetala (Lindl.) Meerow – southwestern Ecuador, northwestern Peru Ismene morrisonii (Vargas) Gereau & Meerow – Apurímac, Peru Ismene narcissiflora (Jacq.) M.Roem. – south-central Peru Ismene nutans (Ker Gawl.) Herb. – Peru Ismene pedunculata Herb. – Peru Ismene ringens (Ruiz & Pav.) Gereau & Meerow – Peru Ismene sublimis (Herb.) Gereau & Meerow – La Libertad, Peru Ismene vargasii (Velarde) Gereau & Meerow – Peru