Harperocallis

More Information About Harperocallis

Harperocallis, commonly called Harper's Beauty, is one of those rare plants that few gardeners ever get to own. Harperocallis is a lily relative (family Tolfeldiaceae) that produces a single butter-yellow flower on a long bare stalk in spring. The plant itself is a round clump of grass-like leaves that rarely exceeds 12" tall.

Tips for Growing Harperocallis

Harperocallis grows in moist acidic locations like wet prairies, seepage slopes, bogs and roadside ditches. If you decide to grow this rare beauty, try pairing it with lobelia, dionaea, sarracenia, sabatia, hymenocallis and other marginal aquatic or bog plants.

Preserving Harperocallis flava

This genus contains just a single species, Harperocallis flava and is extremely endangered...with just a few small populations left in the Florida panhandle (Franklin, Bay and Liberty counties). There are estimated to be only eight thousand individual plants left in the wild. Help preserve this rare beauty today by growing an ethically propagated Harperocallis flava in your garden. Be aware that, due to federal regulations, this species is only available to our customers in North Carolina.

Harperocallis Nomenclature

Harperocallis was first discovered in 1965 and is named for Roland MacMillan Harper (1878-1966), a southeastern American botanist, and the Greek "kallos" for beautiful. It is endangered because of the activities of humans, who like to drain its native swampy homes, pick its beautiful flowers, dig the few remaining wild specimens left, and suppress the natural fires that preserve its habitat.