Pancratium is a genus of 17 or 18 species that occur in Asia, Africa, and Europe. P. zeylanicum grows in India and on the islands of the Indian Ocean where it is known commonly as “rain flower.” It’s a bulb that has no rest period unless water is withheld. It propagates by producing offsets and seed. The pollinator is a moth with a very long proboscis.
This tropical plant is rare in cultivation, but it’s very easy to care for. Mine stays outside on the deck during the summer where it gets about half a day of sun. I water it enough to keep it moist and give it an organic fertilizer every couple of weeks. It blooms intermittently, most commonly after a rain, which is why it’s called a rain flower and evidently why it has bloomed only twice this year. We had a drought through most of the summer. It’s interesting that the plant knows the difference between rain and hand watering.
The shrub with purple flowers in the background is Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) and this plant also blooms after a rain. That’s why both of them are blooming at the same time.