Nodding Chocolate Lily

Images ©:

 Cathy Powers | David Francis via NatureShare

Arthropodium fimbriatum

Flower stem to 80 cm tall, may be branched. Several pendent mauve or purple flowers in bract axils with 3 crinkled petals and 3 narrower sepals to 12 mm long. Narrow grass-like leaves which usually wither at flowering time.

Details
Flora Type
Lilies, orchids
Former Scientific Name
Dichopogon fimbriatus
Distinctive Features

Nodding flowers with a chocolate or vanilla scent with purple anthers.
Biology

Perennial. Well-drained shallow soils in full sun. Most lilies regenerate each year from tubers or tuberous root stock.
Native Status
Native
Flowering Time

Sep-Nov
Taxonomy
Phylum
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Class
Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants)
Order
Asparagales
Family
Asparagaceae
Genus
Arthropodium
Species
fimbriatum

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

Chocolate lilies have a characteristic chocolate scent. The multiple fleshy white tubers were cooked and eaten as food by Aboriginal people. They are also palatable without cooking.

Interesting Facts
Similar Species

0
Native Status
Native