AMARYLLIDACEAE

Cooperia pedunculata

Common Name: Giant Rain Lily, Prairie Rain Lily, White Rain Lily

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Cooperia pedunculata flower3.jpg (20401 bytes)

Cooperia pedunculata habit.jpg (85270 bytes)
flower--notice how the petals and sepals are indistinguishable?   When this is the case, we call them collectively tepals. habit--notice the parallel-veined strap-shaped leaves:  is this a monocot or a dicot?
Cooperia pedunculata habit3.jpg (117630 bytes) Cooperia pedunculata fruit2.jpg (22303 bytes)
habit again--after the first good Spring rain in March or April, the rain lily flowers will open, seemingly from nowhere! developing fruit--how many lobes are present?  Is this a monocto or a dicot?

Cooperia pedunculata fruit.jpg (14172 bytes)

Cooperia pedunculata developingseeds.jpg (23007 bytes)
fruit again, showing where tepals attached--did this fruit develop from a superior or an inferior ovary? developing seeds

cooperia.frt2.jpg (32050 bytes)

 
when the seeds mature, they turn a shiny black and are released through the top of the fruit