Gymea Lily

Taxobox | name = Gymea Lily


regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Asparagales
familia = Doryanthaceae
genus = "Doryanthes"
species = "D. excelsa"
binomial = "Doryanthes excelsa"
binomial_authority = 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.

Its discovery in the Sydney basin region was recorded on 11th June 1853

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:
** [http://www.anbg.gov.au/aborig.s.e.aust/doryanthes-excelsa.html aboriginal use] , retrieved 28 April 2006
** [http://www.anbg.gov.au/gallery/doryanthes-excelsa.html drawing] , retrieved 28 April 2006
** [http://www.anbg.gov.au/main-path/doryanthes.excelsa.html a specimen in the ANBG] , retrieved October 11, 2005.

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