Common name: Barbados lily, Fire lily
Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Voss APNI* Description: Bulb globose, c. 5 cm long, with a short neck.
Leaves 25–50 cm long, apically blunt.
Scape stout, c. 50 cm tall; umbel 2–4-flowered; spathaceous bracts 6–7 cm long; pedicels 4–8 cm long. Flowers trumpet-shaped, held more or less horizontally, usually orange-red, yellowish green at base. Perianth tube c. 3 cm long; lobes c. 10 cm long, spreading.
Capsule rare, globose. Seeds numerous, flattened.
Distribution and occurrence: Lord Howe Island, where it is an escape from cultivation and is now spreading by self-sown seed. Also possibly naturalised from dumped garden waste at Sapphire Gardens (NC).
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *LHI
Several species have been hybridised in horticulture (of which Hippeastrum puniceum is probably the principal) to produce the widely grown so-called 'amaryllis'. The hybrids have been included here under this name.
Text by P.S. Green (1994) and KL Wilson (2006)
Taxon concept: P.S. Green (1994) Flora of Australia vol. 49
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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