[1][2] Hymenocallis clivorum is a perennial herb producing bulbs about 6 cm long that resemble small onions.

The leaves are narrow and sword-shaped, up to 35 cm long, very waxy on the surface.

The epithet is grammatically a genitive noun rather than an adjective, thus explaining the "-orum" ending despite the feminine generic name.

[4] Many of the species of the genus grow in swamps and along streambanks in the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere, especially in Mexico, the Caribbean and the southeastern United States.

Only two other species are known from Sonora: H. pimana grows in grassy fields in the Sierra Madre Occidental along the line with Chihuahua; H. sonorensis along stream banks in southern Sonora and in Sinaloa.