Amaryllis aurea L’Héritier, Sert. Angl. 14. 1788.

Bulbs ovoid, ca. 5 cm in diam. Leaves appearing in autumn, ensiform, ca. 60 × 1.7--2.5 cm, midvein pale, base and apex gradually tapering. Flowering stem ca. 60 cm. Involucres 2, lanceolate, ca. 3.5 × 0.8 cm. Perianth yellow; tube 1.2--1.5 cm; lobes strongly recurved, abaxially with pale green midvein, oblanceolate, ca. 6 × 0.4--1 cm, margin strongly undulate. Stamens slightly or long exserted, 7--12 cm; filament yellow. Style rose red at apex. Capsule 3-angled, loculicidal. Seeds few, black, subglobose, ca. 0.7 cm in diam. Fl. Aug--Sep. 2 n = 12--16.

Lycoris aurea is cultivated as an ornamental in S China.

Shady and moist places on slopes, rock crevices; (100--)500--2300 m. Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam].