The Genus Crinum in Australia
by  L. S. Hannibal
Fellow of R.H.S; Member American Amaryllis Society

Published in Townsville Historical Society Journal Feb 1967
Photographs added by Webmaster

More than a year ago your editor suggested that the writer submit a review on the Australian Crinum. In several ways the long delay has been of particular value as additional information has turned up which permits us to present a better all around picture of the various species as well as their probable Asian origin. In the latter instance once the migration pattern is understood we can correlate the Crinum migration to other Asian flora which is now in Australia. One of the most interesting items recently encountered is a current reprint of Alfred R. Wallace's’ ”Malay Archipelago” of 1869 wherein Wallace points out that the flora and animal life of Bali and the islands to the north and west of Bali are typically Asian in character, whereas those to the East trend toward Australian types. 
Wallace was partially at a loss to explain this great diversity other than it was somehow related to a deep sea channel along the general division lone. We now know that the great Artic and Antarctic ice ages lowered the worlds seas quite significantly.   That the last major cycle reached its apex some 18,000 to 29,000 years ago and the seas dropped 100  fathoms. This obviously exposed vast open areas which extended from Queensland to Timor as well as new Guinea. Similarly Borneo, Sumatra and Java had wide land connections to Siam; unquestionably these ancient land connections established valid reasons for Wallace's findings.

Similar findings are expressed by E. D. Merrill who was the former director of the Bureau of Science in Manilla. He in turn has traced the migration of some plants from the Philippines to New Guinea and thence to Queensland.  Therefore, with this information at hand we can readily postulate that the Genus Crinum which is of African origin first worked east across Arabia during pluvial times into Asia,  thence down the Malay Archipelago and jumped the sea channel to scatter a few species through New Guinea, Australia and the near Pacific Islands.

The general belief is the Crinum seed, which is quite large and buoyant, migrated by drifting on ocean currents.  This may be true with those species like C. asiaticum , but not all  species are common to the salt marshes and we must attribute inland flooding as a major means of migration. Particularly when the river systems drain in a favourable direction. There is no denying that such distribution is rapid and far flung. An example would be the scattering of the Agave ameri

cana the “century plant” down the Darling River flood plain. It is not a pest now but it could reach the level of artichoke thistle in South Australia.

 Three subgenera of Crinum exist, but only two, the Stenaster and Platyaster are found in the Malay Archipelago  Australia and the Pacific Islands. The third subgenus Codonocrinum which has the trumpet shaped blossoms has never migrated further from Africa than India and Siam proper. This particular subgenus is of relatively recent evolutionary development and probably never had the opportunity of spreading concurrently with the other species. In other words Stenaster and Platyaster had an advantageous lead.

Stenaster means narrow and upright, suggesting that the flower petals of this genus are narrow (1/4 inch wide) and that the blossoms are erect, all of which particularly applies to the C. pedunculatum which grows along the coast of Queensland and New South Wales.

The general belief is that C. pedunculatum is a geographical variation of Crinum asiaticum, but the writer recently noted that the flower styles of C. pedunculatum were noticeably declinate.  This may not be of much significance to some botanists but C. defixum and amabile are similarly constituted whereas C. asiaticum has a concentric stigma.  We can therefore relate C. pedunculatum to C. defixum, and since related species are known in New Guinea the plant undoubtedly migrated to Queensland from there.

	Image 1 Crinum asiaticum flowers
	Image 2 Crinum pedunculatum  flowers from North Coast of NSW

Geographically we can conclude this migration as rather recent since C. pedunculatum with its upright Agave like foliage is still a coastal marsh plant. The only known inland migration with attenuated species digression appears at Rockhampton were a Variant t with very narrow foliage is found in the Fitzroy river above the tidal zone (in Mangrove swamps). This particularly tall narrow leafed Crinum should now be introduced as C. pedunculatum var fitzroiense sub sp. Nov. W. Morris & Hannibal as it is sufficiently distinct in habit to warrant varietal recognition.  It is quite an unusual garden plant.

 

Image 3  Crinum brachyandrum photographed  near Tully QLD
(Syn C. pedunculatum var fitzroiense sub sp. Nov. W. Morris & Hannibal)

   
Compared  to C. asiaticum the C. pedunculatum has a number of desirable features. It is far more floriferous, sometimes having a hundred blossoms to the umbel; it is tolerant of cooler weather and is an easy bulb to grow in the garden. The Fitzroy variant will tolerate mild frost. Both the type and the variant cross readily with Crinum bulbispernum (ex C. capense) from the Cape.

There should be no reason to confuse C. flaccidum and its allied forms with C. pedunculatum. The foliage of all flaccidum  forms is relatively limp and either droops or recurves and trails on the ground, and in many localities the plants are deciduous, whereas C. pedunculatum is a large plant and the foliage is evergreen,  erect and non recurving.

The C. flaccidum group contains the following species:

             C. flaccidum         Herb. (1820), found in QLD, NSW, Sth Aust., and the NT
             C. intermedium    Bailey. (1914),  Wai Weir Island
             C. brevistylum      Bailey. (1898), Turtle Island
             C. venosum          R.Br.(1810),   Nth Coast of QLD and NT
             C. angustifolium  R.Br.(1810), Eastern slopes of the Barrier Ra. QLD and NT
             C. brisbanicum    Bailey. (1899), Brisbane River QLD
             C. pestilentis        Bailey. (1898),  Bulloo River   QLD
             C. unnamed          Western Australia, Hann and Fitzroy districts.

 The migration of the parental form from Asia is harder to trace as related species are not immediately apparent in the Malay Archipelago and particularly so in New Guinea. From the inland distribution pattern it does not appear to be a salt marsh plant, and for this reason we are inclined to accept it of much earlier origin or entry than C. pedunculatum. It is very possible that caterpillars or other insects have eliminated the parental forms which remained along the path from Asia.

 The entire C. flaccidum group all belong to the subgenus Platyaster, which implies broad and upright meaning that the petals are broad and the flowers upright. Unfortunately considerable confusion exists over the placing of C. flaccidum in the subgenus Platyaster as Dean William Herbert indicated in his drawings that it was a Codonocrinum back in 1820.  Morphologically the plant misbehaved for him as under greenhouse culture the blossoms mislead him into thinking it was a Codonocrinum.

 The writer has had both Playtaster and Codonocrinum type blossoms develop  in the same umbel and observed similar behaviour in plants about Quirindi, N.S.W.  The cause of the declinate filaments which suggests Codonocrinum is due to forcing. The true or typical blossom have spreading filaments which is definitely a Platyaster feature. This same irregularity may occur in some C. pestilentis as there has been considerable confusion over its classification too.

 

 

 

Image 4  Crinum flaccidum from most Easterly growing colony near Wellington NSW

 

 

 

In general the Australian Flaccidum group is quite different from the typical Asian and American Platyasters by the petals being elliptical and often as wide as 1.5 inches. In addition the tepal tube is often quite curved. In contrast the non Australian forms have lanceolate tepals rarely over a half inch in width and the tepal tube is seldom curved more than slightly. These wider petals, curved tepal tubes and occasional declinate filaments suggest that the Australian forms are going  through and evolutionary digression that parallels the evolvement of the subgenus  Condonocrinum in Africa.

Due to the scant information concerning the species along the north coast of Australia it is impossible to state where the C. flaccidum form first entered, but the bulbs probably worked across from Timor and spread out across the coastal plain, gradually working inland. It  would not be too difficult to cross the northern ranges, either to the east of Mt Isa or during pluvial periods across the Barkley Table land. The uphill migration would be very slow unless some bird species should have had occasion to pack seed about, but once the summit of a pass was gained the downstream and lateral migrations would be very rapid.  With appreciable rain the flat terrain and extensive flood plains found to the north and east of the great prehistoric Lake Eyre and the Bulloo and Warrego Rivers would direct the bulbs toward the Darling and Murray River basins.

 Crinum pestilentis probably represents the form nearest to the type which first migrated  over the mountains, provided  that the bulbs came in via the Flinders River from the Gulf of Carpentaria. We can presume that either C. pestilentis or the Flinders River form worked easterly over the Great Divide to become the C. angustifolium which is scattered along the eastern slopes. The irregular geographical terrain has favoured some diversification of this species and it is also apparent from reports that some colonies of C. pestilentis and C. angustifolium  have overlapped to give us some intermediate forms.

 Photographs that the writer has seen of the West Australian Crinum from the Mann and Fitzroy areas suggest close similarities in foliage to the Lake Torrens forms. We would not expect a direct land linkage, but investigations did show that the Lake Torrens forms were essentially downstream examples of C. pestilentis, even to the extent of having the very vile odour when in blossom. Descriptions of the foliage of the north coast C. brachyandrum are lacking but undoubtedly this is the direct link between the Lake Torrens or Eyre basin group and the West Australian form. During pluvial periods Crinum could have worked west from Lake Eyre but the MacDonnell ranges would be a  barrier.

  As indicated above, the downstream forms seldom deviate much from the upstream parent since seed or bulbs seldom deviate much from the upstream parent since seed or bulbs are continually washed down. These supplemental seedlings keep the downstream populations from drifting too far genetically.  Quite the opposite occurs with upstream migrants. The lack of parental seed

 

 

Image 5 C. flaccidum variant from alkaline soils – having miniature flowers and stigma that doesn’t  emerge from tepal tube (self fertilizing). From arid region near Murray River South Australia.

 

 

 

 

permits the advancing plants to progressively diverge away from the parental type, particularly where a changing ecological environment is encountered.

  Further definite morphological  changes suggest that C. flaccidum either migrated up along the Darling River flood plain or laterally down along the west side of the Great Divide, and in doing so lost the vile odour of the blossoms as well as the heavy texture of its succulent foliage.  Plants apparently crossed the Great Divide west of Brisbane, whence the source of C. brisbanicum. The moist subtropical climate would encourage numerous changes. Other plants worked south along the Macquarie and associated rivers until the Lachlan and Murray River basins were contacted, which gave rise to the upper ‘Murray River Lily’.

Currently in the vicinity north of Quirindi, N.S.W. bulbs are on the verge of crossing the Great Divide and due to an unusual upstream digression probably represents the apex of diversity. Many of these bulbs have blossoms with practically elliptical petals, some have pigments a light red on the exterior and quite a large percentage often flower with blossoms having declinate filaments like the Codonocrinum.  This colony behaves like a hybrid group but the nearest species which would cause such behaviour is on Burma. We can best attribute it to an abrupt genetic change which has not been completely assimilated or stabilized. 

  According to recent reports by D.J. Mulvaney the present desert conditions in Central Australia are something which have evolved during the last 5,000 years. There is little doubt that it is associated with the sea level and ice ages of both the Artic and Antarctic. If this change is recent then C. flaccidum and the associated inland species have barely had time to adjust to desert conditions.

 The plants that now exist represent stranded colonies and their present as well as future survival depends upon holding their own in a few tolerant locations until the pluvial conditions return once more. True, there is a certain amount of natural selection and re-adaptation to meet these changing conditions as has occurred in South Africa, but it takes many centuries for the bulbs to learn to drive deeper or to go dormant during the long dry periods. Should there be any doubt that the Flaccidum group was originally dependent upon a pluvial environment for its wide migrations try growing these plants under such an environment and observe there immediate response. Here in the United States we have found them poorly adapted to the very dry, arid, areas of central and southern California, even with heavy watering, but in the southern Gulf area where summer rainfalls and high humilities prevail the bulbs have found a congenial home.

 One thing will long plague many botanists – The many scattered colonies of C. flaccidum and its related forms which are to be found over nearly a fourth of the Australian mainland have all evolved for digressed to some degree into many minor variants,  often showing diverse colours or markings in the blossoms, different petal and tepal tube sizes and shapes, deciduous or evergreen growth habits, different sizes of foliage with some succulent or quite thick in texture and other than not, and quite a preference as to growing site and soil.

These differences run into hundreds of combinations. Thus far they have not been too closely evaluated and they generally  depend upon the locality and migration path of the colony in question. We note for example the recent naming of the yellow flowered type which grows in the Pichi Richi pass near Quorn in the Flinders Ranges. Unfortunately the individual doing this naming had never been in Australia, knew nothing of the site and disregarded all factors concerning terrain, associated colonies, their probable origin, and the odour of the blossoms, as well as making a complete literature search.

 
 Image 6 – Crinum luteolum syn. C. flaccidum from Pichi Richi Pass South Australia

 

 

 

 

   

Descriptions were made from a single flowering bulb growing under quite a different environment. From the practical standpoint this C. luteolum is little more than a colour variant of C. pestilentis. Colour alone does not justify a new species, neither does rushing into print nowadays without making a comprehensive field survey which evaluates all of the known variable features to all known colonies in a natural area.

There are several crinum species in Northern Queensland  which are not too well known. C. uniflorum Muell is a small plant with slender foliage only a few inches long. It is reported to grow in sandy areas and throws only one or two blossoms to the scape. In addition two unreported Crinum are known in the Cairns area. One appears to be a variant of C. bakeri from New Guinea which has been found at Daintree. Its foliage resembles that of the C. asiaticum var japonicum, the dwarf form native to Japan. The blossoms are white with long slender tepals.  The second species has slightly wider tepals which  are coloured something like the C. amabile of Sumatra. This is undoubtedly the C. douglasii Bailey, which has been reported at Thursday Island.  I would not be overly surprised if other forms are reported in the near future as the York peninsula must have many Malaya plants that have not been evaluated.

The writer wishes to thank Dr. David Symon of Waite Institute, William Morris of Warners bay, T.R.N. Lothian of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens and Mr K. Kennedy of Townsville for much valuable assistance and aid in making this report possible.

 

Bibliography:

Baker J.G.       Handbook of  the Amaryllideae   London George Bell and Sons  1888

Bailey P.M      Crinum brevistylum  Queensland Agriculture Bull. p.197-198, 1898
                       Crinum pestilentis    Queensland Agriculture Bull. p.198,  1898
                       Crinum brisbanicum Queensland Agriculture Bull. p47-48, 1899
                       Crinum pedunculatum Queensland Agriculture Bull. p47, 1899  

Herbert W.D.     Crinum flaccidum      Botanical Mag Vol 47 plate 2133,  1820

Roxburgh W.    Flora Indica (Reprint of Careys Edition of 1832)  1874 

Wallace  A.R.  The Malay Archipelago 1869 (Reprint by Dover Publications 1962)

Merrill E.D.    Merrilleana   VII Correlation of the Indicated Biologic Alliances of the Phillipines with the Geological History of Malaysia Chron. Bot. Vol 10 No. 3/4 1946

Mulvaney D.J.  The Prehistory of the Australian Aborigine  Scientific American 214 p84 March 1966

Muller-Beck H. Paleohunters in America - Origins and Diffusions including data on sea levels for the past 65,000 years.  Science 152 No. 3726  p.1191 May 1966

Broecker W.S.  Absolute Dating and the Astronomical Theory of Glaciation    Science 151  No. 3708   p.299 Jan 1966

Amaryllidaceae from Poisonous Plants of the Northern Territory, p18 Part2, April 1957

Williamson The Lillies of Victoria,  Victorian Naturalist. XLV  p162, Oct 1928

Mueller P.  Key to Systems of Victorian Plants, Crinum Flaccidum Fig. 116 A & B.

Ewart K.J. Plants Indigenous to Victoria, Crinum Flaccidum Vol II, p31, 1910

Hannibal L.S. The Crinum Genus, Australian Plants Vol 3, p262-265, 1966

Traub H.P.   Crinum luteolum,   Plant Life Vol 22, p76-77,

Lothian T.R.N.  Crinum flaccidum   R.H.S.London Journal,   p344-345,  1957

Hannibal L.S. The Variations of the Australian Crinum flaccidum  American Horticultural Magazine Vol. 41,  p224-227, Oct 1962 

Writer:  Mr L.S. Hannibal was born in San Jose, California May 14, 1908.  Gained A.B. and M.A. Stanford University in Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering, with special studies in Biological sciences. Since 1950 with State of California Department of Public Works, Division of Highways in their Materials and Research Dept. 
Fellow of the R.H.S. and Member of the American Plant Life Society since 1938. Chief hobbies growing. identifying and breeding hardy Amaryllids, photography and travel.  Ed. 

Other  publications by Les Hannibal  about Australian Crinums during the 1960’s.

Crinum Flaccidum in Australia
Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society  Vol 88 Part1 (1963)
London

Variation in Crinum Flaccidum
Plant Life Vol 19 No.1   (1963)  p46-48
American Plant Life Society Califorina

Crinums and Other Amaryllids in Australia and the Pacific Isles
Plant Life Vol 21  1965  p12-17
American Plant Life Society

 Photographic acknowledgements:     Images 1 to 6 photographed by Jim Lykos,