Fruits/Seeds
A red-brown, woody seed pod, which is 7 – 10 cm long, contains flat, brown seeds which are 1.5 – 2.5 cm long.
Field Guide
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Gymea Lily
Did You Know?
- Indigenous Australians used to roast the stems and roots; they made the roots into a type of cake that was eaten cold
- When grown from seed, the flowering stems take 5 – 20 years to develop
Giant tussock-like, rosette plant. Grows up to 2.5 m high with a flower stalk up to 5 m high!
Its genus name Doryanthes (meaning spear and flower), and its species name excelsa (meaning high), both refer to its tall flower stem.
Leaves
Long, sword-shaped and forming a clump. Each individual leaf is 1 – 2.5 m long and about 10 cm wide. Shorter leaves up to 30 cm long are found along the flower stem.
Flowers
Located at the top of a single flower stem which grows from the centre of the tussock of leaves. The stem is 2 – 5 m high upon which the flowers form a cluster up to 70 cm in diameter. The individual flowers are bright red (or rarely white), trumpet-shaped and 10 – 16 cm long.
What to Observe
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First fully open single flower
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Full flowering (record all days)
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End of flowering (when 95% of the flowers have faded)
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Open seed pods containing seeds (record all days)
When and Where
When To Look
- From spring through summer
- Flower stem emerges from the tussock of leaves during winter
- Flowers appear in spring and summer
- Seed pods appear after flowers
- Seed pods split open in January or February
Where To Look
- East coast of NSW, from Newcastle to Wollongong, and in a few isolated regions on the North Coast
- Adaptable to a range of climates and is now found in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide
- In open forest and woodland
- Look in urban areas, particularly in parks, gardens and along roadsides
What Else?
Similar Species
Waratah (Telopea speciosissima) has shorter leaves (8 – 28 cm long), usually with serrated edges, that don’t grow in a clump or tussock from the ground. The flower stem is also much shorter, and the flower cluster much smaller (only 7 – 10 cm diameter).
