# Identify my mystery plant! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487 "2005-10-16T17:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/1 "2005-10-16T17:40:27Z")
I’ve got these mysterious bulbs popping up in my yard these days. They’re very pretty pink things, but I have no clue what they are. I just moved in in August, so obviously anything that blooms in October is new to me. They don’t look intentionally planted. The previous homeowners were NOT planters. I put them up in my garden blog, but since nobody _reads_ my blog I thought I’d put it to the Teeming Millions, who haven’t steered me wrong on plant identification yet. What are these things? Can I mark them now and move them to somewhere I can enjoy them more once they’re done blooming? Did somebody plant them? [http://www.bulblet.com/archives/2005/mystery-plant/](http://www.bulblet.com/archives/2005/mystery-plant/) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/2 "2005-10-16T18:23:18Z")
Here in Central Illinois, if they were light pink, and blooming in August, I’d call them “Resurrection Lilies”, a.k.a. [_Lycoris squamigera_.](http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ITG_September97.html) I see that SC has a ["Red Spider Lily,](http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topics.cgi?earl=plant_profile.cgi&symbol=LYRA) a.k.a. _Lycoris radiata_. But I’m just guessing. Take the pix down to your local Master Gardener at the County Extension office, they’ll be able to ID them in about 2 seconds, “oh, yeah, those are…” Locate your county [here.](http://www.clemson.edu/hort/scmg/countymgassoc.php) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/3 "2005-10-16T18:30:35Z")
And I found a [photo](http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lycoris/Lycoris-radiata-var.pumila.jpg), which looks, to me, exactly like your mystery plant. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/4 "2005-10-16T18:57:28Z")
We have some bloom in our front yard every year, except that they are orange. Otherwise identical, right down to the lack of obvious leaves. It always grows beneath one of our trees. A parasitic plant? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/5 "2005-10-16T19:07:53Z")
As others have noted it’s a [red spider ily](http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=7911&scChannel=Top%20Ten%20Bulbs) ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/6 "2005-10-16T23:34:31Z")
Yep, _Lycoris radiata_, Spider Lily, aka, “Naked Lilies”, because when they bloom, there are no leaves apparent. Some wiseacre then quipped, “Nekkid Ladies”, which is a common term for them here in the South, at least. Them Nekkid Ladies are mighty purty! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/7 "2005-10-17T01:48:55Z")
Wow, thanks! That’s _exactly_ what they look like. They’re exactly the color of my plastic flamingos! So, if I mark 'em now, and once they die back down dig them up, will they grow in a place of _my_ choosing? I don’t want to accidentally mow them, or drag the trash can over them! Also, how did they get there? I never thought about it, but I guess bulbs do have seeds? Blown there? Or I do have an old house, built in 1928 - it’s possible that at some point there was a garden where now there is none, I guess. But the bulbs I always hear about being persistent like that are crinums, not lilies. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/8 "2005-10-17T02:38:37Z")
Zsofia, Spider lilies, like crinums, are an old passalong plant favorite, and if your house is old, the Nekkid Ladies may well be happily esconced in what was once a garden area. [Here’s](http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/champaign/homeowners/050818.html) a more elaborate link than the previous ones. To add, if you have some old crinums, likely with an older house, and want to move them, be prepared for an archeological dig…you have to dig wayyyy down, and be careful to Not chop off roots, or the whole 50 year old plant is done for. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/9 "2005-10-17T03:26:05Z")
In England, I think they are known as Nerines, and in Japan, they are called Higanbana, or flowers that bloom at Higan, which is a Buddhist festival. They are highly regarded and there are some areas full of them that people will flock to see. They are rather insecty but very beautiful. And they don’t grow in my area of Japan, it’s too cold for them. Sniff. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/10 "2005-10-17T13:08:14Z")
I don’t have any old crinums (that I know of, anyway), but I’ve ordered one new one from the zoo and botanical garden’s annual bulb sale, to pick up at the beginning of next month. I am so psyched about it! They’re pretty expensive, but I understand the thing will probably outlive me. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/11 "2005-10-17T15:41:50Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > Yep, _Lycoris radiata_, Spider Lily, aka, “Naked Lilies”, because when they bloom, there are no leaves apparent. Some wiseacre then quipped, “Nekkid Ladies”, which is a common term for them here in the South, at least. > > Them Nekkid Ladies are mighty purty! Please be aware that the name “Naked Ladies” applies to Amaryllis belladonna out west also: [http://www.seenobjects.org/2005-03-05-amaryllis-belladonna](http://www.seenobjects.org/2005-03-05-amaryllis-belladonna) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/12 "2005-10-17T19:47:58Z")
The Naked Ladies I’ve seen grow a spray of leaves earlier in the season, which die off long before the flower stalk comes up, hence the “naked/nekkid.” They’re also called Wild Amaryllis. A humorist (Lewis Grizzard?) said that in the South “naked” means you ain’t got no clothes on, but “nekkid” means you ain’t got no clothes on, and you up to somethin’. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/13 "2005-10-17T20:05:22Z")
You know, now that you say that, I think I _did_ see some weird bulb-leaves around there when first I bought the house and mowed. I think I managed to avoid mowing them - I’ll have to be extra-careful now! And they are _definately_ unclothed and up to something, didn’t you see what color they are? They’re definately very naughty flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/14 "2005-10-18T04:56:46Z")
I’m envious. Those are pretty, and just quirky enough to greatly please. Neat addition to the garden! (All my mystery plants have turned out to be dull and weedish.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-my-mystery-plant/326487/15 "2005-10-18T13:32:51Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I’m envious. Those are pretty, and just quirky enough to greatly please. Neat addition to the garden! (All my mystery plants have turned out to be dull and weedish.) Warning: having read up more on them, it seems they HATE to be transplanted. They won’t bloom for years if you dig them up. FYI. If you want to get some of your own, [oldhousegardens.com](http://oldhousegardens.com) claims to sell the true passalong plant. I haven’t bought from them but they come very highly reviewed online.