Description
This makes a very small bulb 1.5-2cm across at most and the bulbs are surrounded by papery, brown tunics which, importantly, are pilose inside (covered with long soft hairs). The stems are 15-30cm tall and have no hairs, they are unbranched but have two, opposite leaves set either side. These are 15-30cm long and 1-3cm across with noticeable veins. There are three, ribbon-like, 1mm-5mm long bracts at the top of the flowering stems, these are lost at flowering time.
The flowers are borne on a long stem and are solitary and funnel-shaped with white petals each having a green blotch at their base inside and thin brown stripes and lines on the exterior. The anthers are long and yellow. Flowering is early, February or March is normal and the fruits which follow (in the form of 3-sided, 2cm-long capsules) can be set and ripe by April. Increase is pleasing, by offsetting and by means of the abundantly-set seed.
This is a relatively new species, from Anhui in China where it grows and it is grown there commercially also in large quantities and is harvested for the medicinal trade. Amana wanzhensis was discovered during botanical fieldwork in Ningguo County on Amana. So far it is only known around Xianxia Town where it is said to be widespread in the wild also. Only when the plants were examined closely was it realised that this was a new species, distinct from all the known ones. It is said to be closest to A. erythronioides and though there are several differences, it can be most readily distinguished from that plant as it has shorter bracts (0.1–0.5 cm long), yellow anthers and deciduous tepals.
Its natural habitat is mostly moist bamboo forests or meadows with elevations ranging from 600m to 800m. This represents a new and unique combination of character-states in Amana.
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