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Hesperantha coccinea
Also called Crimson flag, River Lily, Kaffir Lily, Red Flag
Scarlet river lily is a tuberous perennial from southern Africa, grown for its late-summer to autumn spikes of red, pink or white flowers. It needs a sunny spot, free-draining soil and enough moisture while it grows.
Hesperantha coccinea, the river lily, or crimson flag lily, synonym Schizostylis coccinea, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family Iridaceae, native to Southern Africa and Zimbabwe. It is a semievergreen perennial growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with slender lanceolate leaves up to 40 cm (16 in) long and 1 cm (0.4 in) broad. The flowers are red, occasionally pink or white, 30–35 mm long, with six petals; they are produced four to ten alternately on a spike in late summer to autumn.
The Latin specific epithet coccinea means “bright red”.
Hesperantha coccinea is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens for its flowers, It is often used in floristry. Hardy down to between −5 and −10 °C (23 and 14 °F), in colder regions it is grown under glass. It was formerly known in cultivation as "Kaffir lily", and is still occasionally referenced as such. However, "Kaffir" is now regarded as an offensive ethnic slur.
Numerous cultivars are available, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hesperantha coccinea 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.
