Stenomesson is a genus from South America in the Amaryllidaceae family found in the Peruvian Andes, Ecuador, Colombia, and Chile. Meerow et al. (2000) transferred some species in this genus to Clinanthus. Stenomesson can be separated from Clinanthus based on the presence of petiolate leaves and various other characters.
Stenomesson aurantiacum is native to southern Colombia to central Peru. Most specimens are found in the Quito region of Ecuador. This region experiences an almost constant year round temperature of 13C (55F). The dry period extends from July-September where rainfall averages to about 25mm (1 inch). Photos by Alessandro Marinello.
Stenomesson chloranthum is native to Peru. Photos by Jacob Knecht.
Stenomesson coccineum is now known as Clinanthus coccineus.
Stenomesson incarnatum is now known as Clinanthus incarnatus.
Stenomesson miniatum is the currently accepted name but it still commonly known by its synonym as Urceolina peruviana. This is due to the urn-shaped flowers, which resembles Urceolina but was determined by Ravenna (1978) to be a Stenomesson. The plant goes dormant in the winter and flowers in spring before the leaves appear. Photo by Dell Sherk.
Stenomesson pearcei is native to southern Peru and Bolivia from 2700-4000m (8,800-13,000 feet). In the wild it occurs in loamy soil on dry slopes among shrubs, tuffed grasses, and rocks. Colonies are formed through numerous bulb offsets. The plants flower from March-June in habitat. The temperature of the region where this species is found from Cerro de Pasco, Peru south to La Paz, Bolivia is a constant average of about 54F (12C) year round despite the high altitude. The dry period from May-August experiences only about 5mm of rainfall. The plants are susceptible to root mealy bugs and flower thrips. Photo 1 was taken by Jacob Knecht and photos 2-5 were taken by Nhu Nguyen.
Stenomesson variegatum is now known as Clinanthus variegatus.