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Haemanthus albiflos
Also called White Bloodlily, White Paintbrush
Snake Lily (Haemanthus albiflos) is an evergreen bulbous perennial from coastal and mountain areas of South Africa, grown for its white brush-like flowers and tolerance of neglect. Its key to success is avoiding full sun and not overwatering.
Haemanthus albiflos is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to the coast and mountains of South Africa. It is sometimes given the English name paintbrush, not to be confused with Castilleja species which also have this name. It is an evergreen bulbous perennial geophyte, prized horticulturally for its unusual appearance and extreme tolerance of neglect. H. albiflos is the only Haemanthus species found in both winter and summer rainfall regions, and has a mainly coastal distribution from the southern Cape through the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, showing a preference for cool, shady spots.
H. albiflos is hardy down to about 1 °C (34 °F) but does not survive prolonged freezing temperatures. This is a very successful indoor plant where it is too tender to be grown outdoors, and thrives on "healthy neglect". It prefers not to be in full sun, but is very tolerant of under-watering, and flowers better if restricted in a small pot.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
April fool · Dwarf Bloodlily · Granite Bloodlily · Pink Bloodlily · Haemanthus lanceifolius · Mountain Bloodlily · Nardouw Bloodlily · Delicate Bloodlily
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Haemanthus albiflos by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
