Rocky shoals spider lily, Hymenocallis coronaria (J. Le Conte) Kunth, was initially collected on the Savannah River at Augusta, Georgia, by William Bartram who would have named it Pancratium fluitans if he had gotten credit for the discovery. It is also known as Cahaba lily because the largest remaining population is on the Cahaba River in central Alabama, but it is now considered to be synonymous with Carolina spider lily, H. caroliniana (L.) Herbert. This spider lily grows in flowing water near the fall line in central Alabama where it roots into cracks in the rocks of the rocky shoals hence the common for that specific application. Every year there is a Cahaba Lily Festival in West Blocton, Alabama in late May when the lilies are in full bloom. Each lily has about three large white blooms that open sequentially with each one lasting for about a day before it closes and another one opens so that self-pollination in prevented. The entire population blooms over the period of a week or two. The pollinator was only recently confirmed to be a night flying moth. I have seen two spider lilies growing in this area although no record is apparent. The difference between the Cahaba lily and these is the stature (head high verses knee high, respectively), the habitat (rocky shoals vs. sandy banks), and reportedly the buoyancy of the seed (sinking into cracks of rocks vs. floating to shore).
