Crinum procerum 'Bride's Bouquet'

Crinum procerum 'Bride's Bouquet'

This astonishing plant is derived from Crinum plants originally found growing at the Japanese Embassy building in Hawaii. A single glance explains why it is called 'Bride's Bouquet'. The 3 photos show the same plant with the flowers opening over a succession of days. 

This is only one of several wonderful C. procerum hybrids that were grown out of the Crinum at the Japanese embassy.  Some were had narrow-green leaves, some had wider dark leaves (C. procerum Kaawanum-like), and others had red scapes and green leaves. 
At one time it was not known if the plants used to landscape the Japanese Embassy were a species or hybrids.  Mr. Hannibal and Marcelle (and others) decided to grow out seedlings.  The rationale was that if the plants constituted a species the progeny would resemble the parents.  However, if the parent plants were hybrids then it would be likely that the seedlings would be of various types.  In fact, the diversity of types that were produced convinced Marcelle and Mr. Hannibal that the parent plants used to landscape the embassy grounds were, in fact, hybrids. 

Bride's Bouquet is a durable plant in East Texas, tolerant of heat and humidity, as well as hard frosts.