Rhodolirium

Rhodolirium is a small South American genus in the tribe Hippeastreae of the family Amaryllidaceae. Although originally described by Philippi in 1858 it has long remained buried in other taxa, principally Hippeastrum and more recently Rhodophiala. Only in recent years has it been rehabilitated. Restoring the genus was first proposed by Naranjo & Poggio (2000), and accepted by Ravenna in 2003, although he used the name Rhodolirion, originally used by Baker (1878) in his very broad construction of Hippeastrum including both Rhodophiala and "Rhodolirion". He also renamed Rhodolirium andinum as Hippeastrum rhodolirion. Later he elevated Rhodolirion to the status of subgenus, with H. rhodolirion (subsequently Rhodophiala rhodolirion) as the type species . Subsequently the genus has been treated as part of Rhodophiala. Flowers single or pluriflor, perigone infundibular (funnel shaped) with elongated floral tube. Paraperigonium, if present, has free segments. Stigma capitate. For early treatment of Rhodolirium, see Taxonomy of Hippeastrum. The rehabilitation has yet (as of February 2016) to be recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, but is by the Missouri Botanical Gardens, with six species. The ability to resolve phylogenetic relationships based solely on morphological data is limited in the Amaryllidaceae, necessitating the use of molecular methods in addition. In their study of the American amaryllidaceae, Meerow et al. (2000) noted that Rhodophiala was polyphyletic. Subsequently Munoz et al. undertook a detailed study of Rhodophiala/Rhodolirium species and related genera and confirmed the genus as circumscribed was indeed polyphyletic with three species segregating as a sister group to Phycella which they proposed to resurrect as genus Rhodolirium, while the remainder of the species segregated in a separate clade more closely associated with Hippeastrum, which they proposed as Rhodophiala sensu stricto.