Urceolina is a genus of flowering bulbous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae (the amaryllis family), order Asparagales. It comprises around 25–30 species of perennial monocots native to South and Central America, occurring in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. The genus has also been introduced to parts of South and Central America as well as India and Sri Lanka.
Plants in this genus are commonly known as Amazon lilies. They typically produce strap-shaped leaves and pendant or nodding, urn-shaped to funnel-shaped flowers, often white or greenish-white, borne in umbels on leafless scapes — a morphology characteristic of the broader Amaryllidaceae family.
Urceolina is a relatively recent circumscription that absorbed the formerly independent genera Eucharis and Caliphruria, both of which are now treated as synonyms. As a result, the well-known Amazon lily of horticulture, long sold under the name Eucharis amazonica, is correctly placed here as Urceolina amazonica. The type species is Urceolina urceolata (originally described as Crinum urceolatum).
Several species are popular in cultivation, particularly Urceolina amazonica, U. × grandiflora, and U. subedentata, valued for their elegant white flowers and ability to bloom under warm glasshouse conditions. Conversely, the genus includes species of significant conservation concern: U. hartwegiana and U. subedentata are threatened with extinction, and U. tenera is considered extinct.
Distribution
Urceolina is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America, with natural occurrences in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. The genus has been widely introduced beyond its native range to other parts of the Americas as well as to India and Sri Lanka.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus name Urceolina was established by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1828, replacing William Herbert's earlier (1821) but illegitimate Urceolaria. The name is now conserved, with Urceolina urceolata as the type species. A major reclassification merged the horticulturally prominent genera Eucharis and Caliphruria into Urceolina, substantially expanding its circumscription; the exception is Caliphruria korsakoffii, transferred instead to Stenomesson.
Conservation
Many species in the genus are endangered. Urceolina hartwegiana and U. subedentata are threatened with extinction, and U. tenera is listed as extinct in the wild.
Cultivation
The most widely cultivated species are Urceolina amazonica, U. × grandiflora, and U. subedentata. Plants are propagated by detaching offsets, preferably in spring, and potting them singly in 15 cm pots in good loamy soil with added sand for drainage. They require daytime temperatures of around 25 °C and night temperatures of 18–20 °C, with regular watering during the growing season. A short rest period in summer — moving plants to cooler conditions (around 15 °C at night) with reduced watering — encourages subsequent flowering. As evergreens, they should not be left completely dry. With staggered potting schedules, it is possible to keep plants in bloom year-round.
