Amana Honda; Orithyia D. Don.

Herbs perennial, bulbiferous. Bulbs truncate basally, sometimes elongate and tapering apically, covered with a tunic; tunic usually hairy inside. Stem simple or occasionally branched, proximal part usually underground. Leaves basal and cauline, spaced or ± crowded, rarely opposite, sessile and clasping at base, linear to narrowly ovate. Inflorescence usually 1-flowered; bracts absent or sometimes present. Flowers bisexual, erect, campanulate to saucer-shaped. Tepals 6, free, often colored, outer and inner ones different in shape, apex usually with a minute tuft of white hairs. Stamens 6, equal or 3 longer; filaments sometimes hairy; anthers basifixed. Ovary 3-loculed; ovules many per locule. Style columnar or very short; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit a loculicidal capsule. Seeds flat, usually subdeltoid.

About 150 species: temperate regions of N Africa, Asia, and Europe, mainly in C Asia and the Mediterranean region; 13 species (one endemic) in China.

(Authors: Chen Xinqi (陈心启 Chen Sing-chi); Helen V. Mordak1)