Floriography

Red Spider Lily Meaning: Higanbana, Farewells and Remembrance

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Published Jul 26, 2022Updated Nov 3, 20264 min read

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Here is what the red spider lily means in Japan, why it grows at graves, and how to keep it safely.

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In Short

The red spider lily (higanbana) is a flower of farewells, remembrance and the afterlife in Japan, blooming around the autumn equinox while the old flower lists disagree on its meaning. The bulb is poisonous; keep it away from children and pets.

Keep the bulbs away from children and pets: the whole plant is poisonous, and eating a bulb can cause abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
Do not bring red spider lilies to a Japanese grave or altar as an offering: they are planted at graves, and offering the poisonous flower is thought poor manners.

More Takeaways

Visit in mid to late September, when the lilies bloom around the autumn equinox; Gongendo Park in Satte holds more than three million.
Do not read it as 'never to meet again': Japan's flower lists give sad memories, reunion, resignation and gratitude instead.

Which Spider Lily Is This?

The red spider lily is Lycoris radiata, native to China, Japan, Korea and Nepal. The pink surprise lily is a different species, Lycoris squamigera. Hymenocallis, native to the southeastern United States, is a different genus that shares the name spider lily, and the Japanese meanings belong to Lycoris radiata.

Red spider lily
Botanical name
Lycoris radiata
Flowers
Red, late summer to early fall
Native to
China, Japan, Korea and Nepal
The higanbana of Japan
Surprise lily
Botanical name
Lycoris squamigera
Flowers
Rose-pink, August to September
Native to
Southeast China, Korea and Japan
A different species
Golden spider lily
Botanical name
Lycoris aurea
Flowers
Yellow-orange, August to September
Native to
Central and southern China and Japan
A different species
Hammock spider lily
Botanical name
Hymenocallis occidentalis
Flowers
White
Native to
Southeastern United States
A different genus

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Blue Lotus, CC BY 2.0; Yoko Nekonomania, CC BY 2.0; t-mizo, CC BY 2.0; Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where the Name Comes From

Hand-coloured botanical plate of Lycoris radiata showing a bulb, strap leaves and a red umbel with long curled stamens — Image: Edwards's Botanical Register plate, 1822, public domain

Lycoris radiata goes by several common names, including equinox flower, hurricane lily, and naked lily.

The genus name Lycoris honors a Roman actress, the mistress of Mark Antony, not the Greek word for twilight.

By Color

Spider Lily Colors: Modern Meanings

Red spider lilies with recurved petals and long stamens, one in full bloom and closed buds below, in green grass

Lycoris radiata is the red spider lily; other Lycoris species include the rose-pink surprise lily and yellow-orange golden spider lily, and these color meanings are modern readings; the old flower dictionaries list no spider lily.

Red Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata) – The Japanese lists give the red spider lily sad memories, reunion, resignation, and fear; none of them says death.
Pink Spider Lily (Lycoris squamigera) – The pink spider lily is usually Lycoris squamigera, the surprise lily, rose-pink with purplish veins; one Japanese list reads pink as pleasant enjoyment and deep consideration.
Orange Spider Lily (Lycoris sanguinea) – The species pairing is unconfirmed. One Japanese list reads orange as alluring; the English-language readings of confidence, pride, and wealth are modern and have no historical source.
Yellow Spider Lily (Lycoris aurea) – The yellow spider lily is Lycoris aurea, the golden spider lily, yellow-orange and native to central and southern China and Japan; one Japanese list reads yellow as sad memories and recollection.
Blue Spider Lily (Lycoris sprengeri) – The blue spider lily is Lycoris sprengeri, but no extension or dictionary source confirms a blue flower or gives it a meaning, so treat the blue readings as unverified.
White Spider Lily (Lycoris albiflora) – The species pairing is unconfirmed. One Japanese list reads white as looking forward to the day of meeting again; the English-language readings of freshness and new beginnings are modern and have no historical source.

What Japan's Flower Lists Say

Early Japanese watercolour of a red spider lily with a bud, labelled in Latin script and katakana — Image: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Cock Blomhoff Collection (Yushi Ishizaki), public domain

In Japan's flower-language lists (hanakotoba), one city list gives the red spider lily (higanbana, also manjushage) sad memories, passion, independence, reunion, resignation, and fear; another list gives gratitude. None of these lists says "never to meet again," and reunion appears in two.

How the Traditions Read the Red Spider Lily

Red spider lilies in a dense row along a grass path in the grounds of Tennoin temple in Oyama, Tochigi — Image: Tatsundo h, Public domain

Japan's flower lists disagree, giving sad memories, reunion, resignation and gratitude, and none says 'never to meet again'. The Buddhist name points to heaven, not hell. The Victorian dictionaries list no spider lily, so the usual English-language reading of death has no Victorian source.

Japan
Flower language
Sad memories, reunion, resignation
Florists' list
Gratitude
Lists differ
China and Buddhism
Name
Manjushage, the "red flower of heaven"
Chinese reading
None documented
Heaven, by name
Today
Usual reading
Farewell and remembrance
Colour meanings
Modern, no old source
Modern

Higan and the Autumn Festivals

Close-up of a red spider lily with narrow wavy petals and long dark-tipped stamens on a green stem

Red spider lilies bloom from mid to late September, around the autumn equinox, and Japan holds festivals for them. One is the Satte Higanbana Festival, celebrating the second largest red spider lily display in Saitama Prefecture, where Gongendo Park holds more than three million; the largest is in Kinchakuda.

Heaven and Higan in Buddhism

Red, white and yellow spider lilies blooming beside a small moss-covered stone Buddhist figure in a temple garden — Image: おにく, CC0

In Japan, families visit their ancestors' graves during the Buddhist Higan periods. Red spider lilies mark the arrival of autumn Higan, often blooming beside roads, paths, and in graveyards.

Japanese Buddhist usage calls the flower manjushage, a Sanskrit term for 'red flower of heaven.'

Planted at Graves, Not Offered There

A pink-red spider lily in full bloom with long curved stamens, photographed in a corner of Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo — Image: Jun from Sagamihara, CC BY 2.0

The lilies grow beside roads, along rice-field paths and in graveyards across Japan. Planting them at graves is said to have guarded burials from moles and rats. Offering the poisonous flower at a grave or altar is thought poor manners, so the lilies are planted at graves rather than brought as bouquets.

Planted at graves
Why, it is said
To keep moles and rats off burials
Said, not documented
Seen at graves
Where
Roadsides, rice-field paths and graveyards
Observed
Offered at graves
Etiquette
Thought poor manners
Not done

Should You Give Red Spider Lilies?

A carpet of red spider lilies under trees at dusk on the Kinchakuda plateau in Hidaka, Saitama — Photo: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pet Safety: Poisonous if eaten, low severity (NC State); not on the ASPCA's lists, which rate the related amaryllis toxic to dogs, cats and horses

In Japan, bringing the poisonous red spider lily to a grave or altar is thought poor manners, so it makes a poor gift or memorial offering. The bulb holds lycorine, a poisonous alkaloid of low toxicity. Eaten, it can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, so keep bulbs from children and pets.

In Japan, red spider lilies grow at graves and bloom at Higan, not as bouquets for memorial services. If you want flowers to give, read about where to send flowers.

Enjoying Red Spider Lilies Safely

A slope under bare trees thickly covered in red spider lilies in bloom at the Gongendo embankment in Satte, Saitama — Image: 京浜にけ, CC BY-SA 3.0

Go and see the lilies in late September, or plant the bulbs outdoors in USDA zones 6 to 10 where children and pets will not dig them. To compare another flower, try the meaning of tiger lily, chamomile flower language or flower meanings by flower. Let the red spider lily be a garden's farewell rather than a bouquet's.

Questions and Answers

Are red spider lilies poisonous to dogs and cats?

The ASPCA has no entry for the red spider lily, so no toxicity rating is published for it. The related Amaryllis (belladonna lily, naked lady) is listed as toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, with lycorine as a toxic principle, so treat red spider lilies with the same caution. If a pet eats any part of the plant, contact a veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

Can you grow a red spider lily in the United States?

Yes, red spider lilies grow in USDA hardiness zones 6a through 10b in the United States. The plants reach one to two feet tall and bloom from late summer into early fall. They are native to China, Japan, Korea, and Nepal.

Is it okay to touch a red spider lily?

Yes. Touching a red spider lily is not known to irritate skin. The real risk is eating the bulb, which contains lycorine, an alkaloid rated low in toxicity; eating it can cause abdominal pain, salivation, shivering, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If a pet eats a bulb, contact a veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

Sources11 sources, linked in the text

Updates and CorrectionsOct 21, 2026 · 5 corrected, 1 clarified, 1 removed

Oct 21, 2026

Added: A guide to which spider lily is which, a comparison of what Japan, Buddhism and modern lists say, a section on graves where the lily is planted but not offered, a source for each meaning, poison and pet safety, and answers to three common questions.
Corrected: The page said Japanese flower language means 'never to meet again'. None of the Japanese lists checked says that; they give sad memories, reunion, resignation and gratitude.
Corrected: Lycoris is named for a Roman actress, not the Greek word for twilight.
Corrected: The page said red spider lilies are offered at graves and altars. A Japanese source calls offering the poisonous flower poor manners; planting at graves is a said tradition.
Corrected: The Satte festival is the second largest display in Saitama Prefecture, not in Japan; festivals in China, Nepal and Korea had no source.
Clarified: The colour meanings are modern readings with no historical source, and the Victorian dictionaries list no spider lily.
Removed: The Lotus Sutra 'grow in hell' line, the Christian martyr story, the legend of lilies blooming where people part, and the 'bad luck' claim: no source found.
Corrected: One photo that showed a different plant was replaced.