This beautiful lily flower boasts red umbels with flowers containing very long projecting stamens, giving it a spider-like appearance.
The Red Spider Lily (aka. Hell Flower, Red Magic Lily; Lycoris radiata) originates from China, Korea and Nepal and was introduced into Japan and then onto the US from there and beyond.
It grows from a bulb in late summer or early autumn, especially after times of intense rainfall.
As the Red Spider Lily often blooms near cemeteries in the autumnal equinox, there is a legend associated with them that they are flowers that grow in the underworld and guide the dead to the next reincarnation.
Buddhists often use them as tributes to their ancestors, leaving them on their tombs, and in Japan they are used in funerals as there is a legend that the Red Spider Lily would bloom along the path of someone you may never meet again. They have many common names depending on the locality.
The Red Spider Lily is also used around fields and rice paddies to keep mice and other critters away, as the bulbs are poisonous. Nonetheless, the bulbs have been reportedly consumed after leaching and cooking as a source of starch.
In traditional Chinese medicine the Red Spider Lily bulb has been used for cancer, sore throats, pain, as an antidote to poison, cancer; or topically for skin ulcers and swellings, and also for burns. However due to the nature of the alkaloids it is usually considered to be toxic.
The Red Spider Lily is the most studied of the Lycoris species. It contains high amounts of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, such as galanthamine-, haemanthidine-, homolycorine- and lycorine-type Amaryllidaceae alkaloids. Colchine has also been isolated from the bulb.
The Red Spider Lily and its active component Lycorine have been found to exhibit antiviral activity against SARS-associated coronavirus. In a screening of over 200 Chinese medicinal plants for SARS-associated coronavirus, The Red Spider Lily was found to be the most potent. Although this screening showed promising results, much more research is needed to determine its efficacy in humans for treatment of viral diseases.
Through scientific investigation, the Red Spider Lily has been found to exhibit aphicial (anti-aphid), antimalarial, antiproliferation, and cytotoxic activities.
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**This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.
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