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Haemanthus
Haemanthus is a southern African genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Members of the genus are known as blood lily and paintbrush lily. A total of 24 species are currently accepted by the Plants of the World Online (POWO) database, native to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini. About 15 species occur in the winter rainfall region of Namaqualand and the Western Cape, the remainder being found in the summer rainfall region, with one species Haemanthus albiflos occurring in both regions.
Haemanthus species do best in large, well-drained containers or planted out in a rockery. Depending on species, they should have full sun or partial shade - winter rainfall species preferring full sun, while summer rainfall and evergreen species need partial shade. Most species are extremely tolerant of poor soil, but should not be disturbed if they are to flower. Propagation can be by offsets (adventitious bulblets), leaf cuttings and by germination of seed. Seeds when ripe are generally surrounded by a sticky pulp, producing long silken threads which presumably are useful in anchoring the seed when germinating and in the early stages of growth.
Snake Lily · Pinkbrush Bloodlily · Haemanthus avasmontanus · Hantam Bloodlily · Hangklip Bloodlily · Lax Bloodlily · April fool · Wavy Bloodlily · Shaggy Bloodlily · Dwarf Bloodlily · Granite Bloodlily · Pink Bloodlily
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Haemanthus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
