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Plant Profile

Henry's Spider-lily (Hymenocallis henryae var. henryae)

Henry's Spiderlily (Hymenocallis henryae var. henryae). Photo by iNaturalist user petekleinhenz, (CC BY-NC).

Photo Credit: Peter Kleinhenz

Global Rank: T2 - Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Liliaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 958388
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Where is Henry's Spider-lily (Hymenocallis henryae var. henryae) located in the wild?

Habitat:

usually wet pinelands, one dry site

Distribution:

States & Provinces:

Henry's Spider-lily can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Henry's Spider-lily (Hymenocallis henryae var. henryae)?

Bok Tower Gardens

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Kelly Coles

11/18/2024

Three Hymenocallis henryae var. henryae subpopulations were visited and assessed at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve in May and June 2024. Collections occurred in July 2024. These sites were badly impacted by Hurricane Michael, and subpopulations were found in small clearings of very dense and overgrown areas, areas that at first look did not seem suitable for the species, which typically occurs in cypress stringers associated with wet pine flatwoods. Few fruiting individuals were observed. Following CPC guidelines, only 10% of available seeds were collected for safeguarding.

One subpopulation had 60 total plants, with 10 individuals fruiting. Another subpopulation had 25 total plants with 12 fruiting. The third subpopulation had 32 total plants, but only two of those individuals were fruiting. Fruiting individuals produce 1 to 2 fruit capsules. Most capsules produce between 3 to 6 seeds. At the time of collection, fruits were observed to be mature when the fruit stalk was leaning to the ground, and seeds were dropped and separated from the capsule. The seeds are hard to the touch and have a bright green color. A few brown seeds observed were soft, wet, and rotten. Plants that had produced fruit lost all their leaves, making it hard to find enough leaf tissue samples for DNA collection at maturity. If DNA is needed, leaf samples should be collected at flowering instead.

12 seeds from four maternal lines were collected. These seeds cannot be stored in a conventional seedbank and are instead considered exceptional. ABG is thus investigating methods of in-vitro conservation for this species.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

A Florida endemic with a limited distribution due to specialized habitat requirements. The Florida Natural Areas Inventory's database currently contains 25 occurrence records (one historic and one extirpated), scattered in the south central portion of the Florida panhandle. Habitat destruction from silviculture activities, fire suppression, and over-collection threaten this species.

01/01/2010

forestry practices fire suppression

01/01/2010

Ann Johnson says 100-200 plants total 2 protected populations found Apalachicola Forest, may be more 4 sites from FNAI