Himalayan giant lily (Cardiocrinum gigantium)
Present distribution
|  This weed is not known to be naturalised in Victoria | ||||
| Habitat: Member of the Liliaceae family that grows at alpine altitudes, from 1,500 m (Plants For A Future) to at least 3,600 m. Although many distributional data point to plants thriving to 4,700 m (Missouri Botanical Gardens). The species grows best in cool, moist shade, on rich soils (Spencer, R. 2005). It is also found growing in woodland clearings. | |||||
Potential distribution
Potential distribution produced from CLIMATE modelling refined by applying suitable landuse and vegetation type overlays with CMA boundaries
| Map Overlays Used Land Use: Forestry Broad vegetation types Dry Foothills Forest; Moist Foothills Forest; Montane Dry Woodland; Montane Moist Forest; Sub-alpine Woodland; Sub-alpine Grassy Woodland; Montane Grassy Woodland; Riverine Grassy Woodland; Riparian Forest; Rainshadow Woodland. Colours indicate possibility of Cardiocrinum gigantium infesting these areas. In the non-coloured areas the plant is unlikely to establish as the climate, soil or landuse is not presently suitable. | 
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Impact
QUESTION | COMMENTS | RATING | CONFIDENCE |
| Social |  | | |
| 1. Restrict human access? | Perennial herb to ~4m (Spencer, 2005), minimal impact assumed. | l | ml |
| 2. Reduce tourism? | None recorded in literature search. | m | l |
| 3. Injurious to people? | None recorded in literature search inc. PFAF Database’s hazard register, (‘97-2000) | l | ml |
| 4. Damage to cultural sites? | None recorded in literature search | m | l |
| Abiotic | | | |
| 5. Impact flow? | Terrestrial species. Little, or negligible, effect on water flow. | l | ml |
| 6. Impact water quality? | Terrestrial species. Little, or negligible, effect on water quality. | l | ml |
| 7. Increase soil erosion? | Terrestrial species. Little, or negligible, effect on soil erosion. | l | ml |
| 8. Reduce biomass? | Unlikely. Little, or negligible, effect on biomass. | l | ml |
| 9. Change fire regime? | Unlikely. Little, or negligible, effect on fire risk. | l | ml |
| Community Habitat | | | |
| 10. Impact on composition (a) high value EVC | CLIMATE match unlikely. May grow within Victoria, but unlikely to naturalise. | L | L |
| (b) medium value EVC | CLIMATE match unlikely. May grow within Victoria, but unlikely to naturalise. | L | L |
| (c) low value EVC | CLIMATE match unlikely. May grow within Victoria, but unlikely to naturalise. | L | L |
| 11. Impact on structure? | Minor, or negligible effect on vegetation composition, no mention of monoculture formation. | l | l |
| 12. Effect on threatened flora? | No threats mentioned in literature review. | m | l |
| Fauna | | | |
| 13. Effect on threatened fauna? | No threats mentioned in literature review. | m | l |
| 14. Effect on non-threatened fauna? | No threats mentioned in literature review. | m | l |
| 15. Benefits fauna? | No mention of food source to desirable fauna. | m | l |
| 16. Injurious to fauna? | No threats mentioned in literature review. | m | l |
| Pest Animal | | | |
| 17. Food source to pests? | Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits (PFAF Database, ‘97-2000) Food source - The lily-beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is known to attack C. giganteum. These herbivorous predators leave large holes in the mature leaves, reducing the plants’ viability. Water voles and garden snails eat the young seedlings. (Jørgensen, ’04) | mh | ml |
| 18. Provides harbor? | Not mentioned in literature review. | m | l |
| Agriculture | | | |
| 19. Impact yield? | Not known as a weed of agriculture, unlikely to grow in highly productive agricultural regions. | m | l |
| 20. Impact quality? | Not known as a weed of agriculture | m | l |
| 21. Affect land value? | Not known as a weed of agriculture | m | l |
| 22. Change land use? | Not known as a weed of agriculture | m | l |
| 23. Increase harvest costs? | Not known as a weed of agriculture | m | l |
| 24. Disease host/vector? | Not known as a weed of agriculture | m | l |
Invasive
QUESTION | COMMENTS | RATING | CONFIDENCE |
| Establishment | | | |
| 1. Germination requirements? | Warm summer months. (Jørgensen, ’04) Temperatures above 20°C for at least three weeks, (PFAF Database, ‘97-2000) | MH | ML |
| 2. Establishment requirements? | Shade required for seedling establishment. (PFAF Database, ‘97-2000) | MH | ML |
| 3. How much disturbance is required? | Not mentioned in literature reviewed. | M | L |
| Growth/Competitive | | | |
| 4. Life form? | Family Liliaceae (Randall, ’02) Perennial herb to ~4m (Spencer, ’05) | MH | M |
| 5. Allelopathic properties? | None mentioned in literature reviewed. | M | L |
| 6. Tolerates herb pressure? | The lily-beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is known to attack C. giganteum. These herbivorous predators leave large holes in the mature leaves, reducing the plants’ viability. Water voles and garden snails eat the young seedlings. (Jørgensen, ’04) | ML | ML |
| 7. Normal growth rate? | None mentioned in literature reviewed. | M | L |
| 8. Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | Does not tolerate standing water around the bulb or roots. (Jørgensen, ’04) Prefers light shade to full sun (PFAF Database, ‘97-2000) | ML | ML |
| Reproduction | | | |
| 9. Reproductive system | Sexual (Dunn Gardens, ’02) Hermaphroditic flowers that are insect pollinated (PFFDatabase, ‘97-2000) Bulb production (Jørgensen, ’04) | H | MH |
| 10. Number of propagules produced? | May produce ~fifty flowers at one time (Thompson & Morgan website, ’05) | ML | ML |
| 11. Propagule longevity? | Up to two years has been observed. (PFFDatabase, ‘97-2000) | L | ML |
| 12. Reproductive period? | One flowering season - once flowering has occurred, the parent bulb dies, but ‘bulblets/ accessory bulbs’ are formed from which daughters are formed. (Jørgensen, ’04) | L | ML |
| 13. Time to reproductive maturity? | Plants produce flowers after seven years (Blackburn, ’04, Dunn Gardens, ’02; Jørgensen, ‘04) | l | ml |
| Dispersal | | | |
| 14. Number of mechanisms? | Seed pods are ~10 cm (4 inches) long. (Blackburn, ’04) Gravity (Dunn Gardens, ’02) | l | ml |
| 15. How far do they disperse? | Gravity (Dunn Gardens, ’02), seeds are unlikely to spread more than twenty metres. | l | ml |
References
Blackburn, T. (2004) The Cardiocrinum giganteum Project: Terry Blackburn on the Web website. www.terryblackburn.us/Gardening/Cardiocrinum/index.html [Accessed 28 Nov., ’06.]
Dunn Gardens. (2002) Dunn Gardens’ Webpage. http:dunngardens.org/summer/cardiocrinum_giganteum.html [Accessed 0n 28 Nov., ’06.]
Jørgensen, HS. (2004) How to Grow Cardiocrinum giganteum. Viscum.dk webpage. <www.viscum.dk/eng-sider/cardiocrinum.htm> [Accessed 28 Nov., ’06.]
PFF Database. (1997 – 2000) Plants For A Future Species Database. Plants For a Future, Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK. www.pfaf.org/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Cardiocrinum+giganteum [Accesses 28 Nov., ’06.]
Randall, RP. (2002) A Global Compendium of Weeds. RG and FJ Richardson, Melourne.
Spencer, R. (2005) Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia: Flowering Plants; Monocotyledons. Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, UNSW Press.
Thompson & Morgan. (2005) Cardiocrinum giganteum Webpage. http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/en/product/2710/1 [Accessed 28 Nov., ’06.]
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