Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
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Doryanthes excelsa
Giant Lily, Gymea Lily
Doryanthaceae
Dry forest and woodland. Widely planted. Coastal north from Kiama. On and near the Great Western Highway, Blue Mountains.
Perennial herb to 5 m high or more. Basal leaves numerous, in a rosette, 100-250 cm long, 100 mm wide, sword-shaped, hairless. Stem leaves spiralling up the flower stalk, to 30 cm long. Flowers pinkish red (paler within) or rarely white, 10–16 cm long, with 6 'petals' each 6–12 cm long, united shortly at the base, in 2 whorls, more or less curved down at maturity. Bracts just below the flowers reddish. Flowers in many-flowered globular clusters, to 70 cm diameter. Seed cases red-brown at maturity, 7–10 cm long.
Protected NSW.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Doryanthes~excelsa (accessed 12 January, 2021)
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