Atacama Desert: Añañuca (Rhodophiala bagnoldii)

If you were to stroll through the colorful floral carpets blanketing the Atacama Desert during “Desierto Florido,” you may meet a few isolated beauties along the way. Among the rarest and most highly prized flowers are trumpet-shaped lilies, with their proud flower heads of yellow, red or pink flowers held high against the vibrant landscape. These flowers are endemic to the coastal regions of Chile, where they are known as añañuca (ahn ya NYU ka), or Rhodophiala bagnoldii. These perennials are closely related to Hippeastrum and have underground bulbs which remain dormant for long periods of time while awaiting rains in the world’s driest desert.

Do you know the folktale behind this flower’s name? As the story goes, there was a beautiful girl named Añañuca, who had loved and then lost her soulmate. After waiting an eternity for his return, a heart-broken Añañuca died. She was buried up the hill on a rainy day; the next day, the hill was found to be covered with red lilies. The stunning flowers now bear the name of the beautiful woman who had found her final resting place in the soil from which they emerged.