Zephyranthes robusta
Zephyranthes robusta, commonly known as the Brazilian copperlily, pink fairy lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of herbaceous flowering bulb in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but is now naturalized in Florida, Colombia, South Africa, and Mauritius.
Description
Zephyranthes robusta is a relatively large species of rain lily. It grows from ovate to obovate bulbs around in diameter.Plants bear solitary lavender to pale pink, funnel-shaped flowers, long, held at a slight angle on scapes, with a leaf-like bract long at the base. Flowers typically appear after rain from late summer to early fall and are followed by large deep green leaves, measuring wide and long.
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Zephyranthes robusta belongs to the genus Zephyranthes of the tribe Hippeastreae, within the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the amaryllis family. In older classifications, it was sometimes included within the lily family. Once treated as Habranthus robustus, it is now re-included in Zephyranthes.It is commonly known as the 'pink fairy lily', 'pink rain lily', 'pink zephyr lily', 'pink magic lily', 'pink fawn lily', and 'Colombian mini-amaryllis'. It is known as cebollita in Spanish.
Due to having the same common names, it is also frequently confused with other 'pink rain lilies' - namely Zephyranthes rosea and Zephyranthes carinata. The three species are often mislabeled, but Z. robusta is easily recognizable from the other two by its larger, more strongly bent, paler pink flowers. Z. robusta also has leaves covered with a fine grayish waxy coating in contrast to the leaves of Z. carinata.