Hippeastrum puniceum
Hippeastrum puniceum is a bulbous perennial native to tropical regions of South America, although it has become naturalized elsewhere.[1] Common names include Barbados lily, Easter lily, cacao lily, cocoa lily and amaryllis lily, although it is neither a lily nor a species of Amaryllis.[1]
| Hippeastrum puniceum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Amaryllidoideae |
| Genus: | Hippeastrum |
| Species: | H. puniceum |
| Binomial name | |
| Hippeastrum puniceum | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Amaryllis punucea Lam. | |
Description
Plants have 4–6 leaves, each of which is bright green, 30–60 cm long by 2.5–3 cm wide, strap-shaped (lorate) and tapers at the end to an acute apex. The leaves are not fully developed when the flowers appear (i.e. they are more or less hysteranthous). The flowers are borne in an umbel on a stem (scape) which is 40–60 cm tall. The umbel has lanceolate green bracts at its base. The petals, or more accurately tepals, are orange-red with paler bases. The lower two tepals are much narrower than the lateral ones.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence
Buds
Polytela gloriosae (lily moth) larva feeding the leaf
Illustration by William Curtis, S. 1795. Curtis's Botanical Magazine
References
- World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2011-10-12, search for "Hippeastrum puniceum"
External links
- Hortus Camdenensis: Hippeastrum puniceum
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Hippeastrum puniceum". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
Media related to Hippeastrum puniceum at Wikimedia Commons