About Hymenocallis coronaria (Leconte) Kunth
Hymenocallis coronaria (Leconte) Kunth needs swift, shallow water currents and direct sunlight to grow well. This plant reaches around 3 feet (0.9 meters) in height, growing from a bulb that settles into cracks in rocky shoals. It blooms from early May through late June. Each fragrant flower opens overnight and only lasts one day. Two insect species visit its flowers, and may act as its pollinators: Paratrea plebeja, commonly called the plebeian sphinx moth, and Battus philenor, the pipevine swallowtail butterfly. The species was first recorded in 1773 by William Bartram, who described it as the "odoriferous Pancratium fluitans which almost alone possesses the little rocky islets". Bartram observed this plant growing in the Savannah River near Augusta, Georgia.
