Doryanthes excelsa

Gymea Lily
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Doryanthaceae
Genus:	Doryanthes
Species:	D. excelsa
Binomial name
Doryanthes excelsa Correa

The Gymea Lily (Doryanthes excelsa) is a flowering plant indigenous to the coastal areas of New South Wales near Sydney.

The plant has sword-like leaves more than a meter long. It flowers in spring and summer, sending up a flower spike up to 6 m high, which at its apex bears a large cluster of bright red flowers, each 10 cm across.

The name "Gymea Lily" is derived from a local Eora dialect. Dory-anthes means spear-flower in Greek, and excelsa is Latin for exceptional. The Sydney suburbs of Gymea and Gymea Bay are named after the lily.

History

The genus Doryanthes was first described in 1802 by the Portuguese priest, statesman, philosopher and botanist José Francisco Correia de Serra (1750–1823), a close friend of Sir Joseph Banks. Doryanthes excelsa has also inspired the naming of Doryanthes, the journal of history and heritage for Southern Sydney founded by Dharawal historian Les Bursill.

Aboriginal use

Honey-eaters love the nectar of these large, crimson flowers on stems 2–3 m tall. These birds were ready prey to be cooked and eaten!

Aboriginal people in the Lake Macquarie district of NSW were observed in 1836 roasting the stems, having cut them when half a meter high and as thick as a person's arm. They also roasted the roots which they made into a sort of cake to be eaten cold.

References

• Australian National Botanic Gardens:
  • aboriginal use, retrieved 28 April 2006
  • drawing, retrieved 28 April 2006
  • a specimen in the ANBG, retrieved 11 October 2005.

Image gallery

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  Flowers

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  Flowers

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  Flowers and past seeds

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  The blossoming plant

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  Sword-like leaves

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  Australian native growing in Heathcote National Park, Sydney.

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  Doryanthes palmeri

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