- Amancae
Taxobox
name = Amancae
superregnum=Eukaryota
regnum=Plantae
divisio=Magnoliophyta
classis=Liliopsida
subclassis=Liliidae
ordo=Asparagales
familia=Amaryllidaceae
genus=Hymenocallis
species=H. amancaesThe Flower of Amancae ("Hymenocallis amancaes") is endemic
herbaceous plant species of the coastal hills ofPeru and belongs to the family of theAmaryllidaceae . [citebook|title=World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference |author= John Harry Wiersema, Blanca LeónSummary|year= 1999|publisher=CRC Press| pages=266|id=ISBN 0849321190|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hQL-2sdxgDAC&pg=PA266&ots=nWBSsozZlT&dq=%22Hymenocallis+amancaes%22&as_brr=3&ei=mLO8Rv25PIjO6wL82pnCBQ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=NVGim-pp8QKbEBCQs-a85OeSqzI]This plant is an herbaceous one, with white bulbs, radical leaf of intense green color, yellow terminal flowers with a greenish interior and a short time of life that lasts from 2 to 3 days.
It has green seeds that germinate in the plant and later they fall with the root to the ground. It is cultivated wild and has cosmetic and medicinal uses.
Its beauty has inspired many artists and intellectuals. From PreHispanic times, the
Inca ’s Culture decoratedKeros and other ceramics with this flower.The Flower of Amance was painted in watercolors by Martinez de Compagnon,
Bishop of Trujillo .In century XVII
Bernabé Cobo said: “In the time of drizzles is born in hills of the contour of Lima City, in so much quantity that they put of that they put of its color the meadows where they are born ".During the Colony in Pampas of Amancaes, located in the place which today is called Rimac District, the slopes of the place were covered with Amancaes of diverse colors: white, yellow and purple.
St. Juan Baptist’s Day is celebrated on June 24th and at same time, it is initiated the flowering of the Amancae.
This coincidence motivated the archaeologist and naturalist Johann Jakob Von Tschudi to say the following thing: “People of all the colors and classes, play, drink, gather flowers and return to Lima at the time of pray".
The term of the flowering of the Amancae is given generally 4 days later, that is to say, the 30th September when St Jeronimo’s Day is celebrated.
The Flower of Amancae is also well-known as Amancay, Amankay, Hamancaes, Janacai, Lamanckai, etc.
References
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