How to Grow and Care for Fringe-lily

Common fringe-lily gets its species name, "tuberous," from its a tuberous root, which indigenous Australians historically used as a food source. It isn’t easy to cultivate this plant where it is not already growing, but it can be encouraged to thrive in temperate and tropical climate zones. The flowers only last for one day.

Tuberous and leafless growing to between 15 cm and 50 cm in height. They produce purple flowers between summer and fall in its native range. Basal leaves disappear as the plant matures. They ascend through the surrounding canopy by spiralling around nearby plants to attain a height between 60 to 80 cm.

Chinese fringe lily is a small plant that produces very showy purple flowers that are surrounded by hair-like filaments making them a most singular sight in the wild. The flowers would suit ornamental growth except for the fact that they only bloom for a short time in late spring. It is named Thysanotus chinensis for its Chinese and Southeast Asian origin.