Family: Liliaceae, Lily view all from this family

Description Few spidery white flowers borne on 2-edged stalk above basal leaves.
Flowers: to 7" (17.5 cm) wide, each a long slender tube with 6 radiating lobes (comprising 3 petals and 3 petal-like sepals), inside which is a cup, or crown, of white gauzy tissue from which 6 stamens issue.
Leaves: to 1/2" (1.3 cm) wide, 1' (30 cm) or more long, strap-like, deeply grooved.
Height: 1 1/2' (45 cm).

Flower March-May.

Habitat Marshes, ditches.

Range Louisiana west to Texas.

Discussion A showy, fragrant southern member of the lily family whose cup-like structure, the "hymen" or membrane, from which the stamens arise, is distinctive, as is the spidery appearance of the long, narrow petaloid parts. In the southwestern United States, 11 species of Hymenocallis occur.