Nature Essays
Hymenocallis coronaria © Angelo Sciulli Rocky Shoals Spider Lily Landsford Canal State Park near Lancaster, South Carolina, is named after the canals that were built to allow river traffic to pass the very shallow rocky shoals in the Catawba River. The park has a canal trail with exhibits to explain the trail features. There is also a nature trail that parallels both the river and the canal. The area is rich in history dating back to native americans and then later to colonial America and the Revolutionary War. The river is also home to very beautiful and rare flowering plant called the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily (Hymenocallis coronaria). This plant is not an endangered species although it is of concern because of the threat to its environment through sedimentation or dam building. Today there are 50 identified Rocky Shoals Spider Lily colonies located in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The large white flowers bloom profusely around June first every year and are the celebrity host for the Lily festival. This year's festival is set for Sunday, May 24, 1998 1- 5:00 p.m. at Landsford Canal State Park (803-789-5800 11:00 to noon daily). More recently, the South Carolina Native Plant Society has been evaluating the potential for propagating the lilies and planting them to expand the range of the flowers. This information is extracted from a more expansive article published in the March 1997 issue of SINRA (Japanese nature magazine). More essays are available in the ARCHIVES Please note that the images and the articles on these pages are copyrighted by Angelo Sciulli. Reproduction or use in any manner without permission is prohibited.
Maintained by Angelo Sciulli   Last updated: March 13, 2000