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Scadoxus puniceus
Also called April Fool, Kaffir Almanac Flower, Natal Blood Flower, Natal Paintbrush Lily, Paintbrush Lily, Red Paint Brush, Royal Paint Brush
Scadoxus puniceus is a bulbous species in the daffodil and onion family, native to much of southern and eastern Africa, grown as an ornamental for its red flower heads. It grows best in cool, shaded, moist conditions and is often found in ravines and forest leaf litter.
Scadoxus puniceus, commonly known as the paintbrush lily, is a species of bulbous plant. It is native to much of southern and eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), and South Africa (the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Northern Provinces). Scadoxus puniceus can be found in cool, shady habitat such as ravines and forests, where it is often found in moist leaf litter. Other common names include snake lily, royal paintbrush, King-of-Candida, African blood lily (English), rooikwas (Afrikaans), isisphompho, and umgola (Zulu). There are nine species of Scadoxus of which three, S. puniceus, S. multiflorus (with 2 subspecies) and S.membranaceus, occur in South Africa.
The plant is cultivated as an ornamental. It was popular in the Netherlands as early as the beginning of the 18th century.
While the bulb is considered poisonous in significant amounts, it is used traditionally to treat "coughs, gastro-intestinal problems, febrile colds, asthma, leprosy, sprains and bruises," and "as an antidote to poisons.'" It is also used as a diuretic. The leaves are applied to sores and ulcers to aid healing and act as an antiseptic. The plant is also traditionally consumed during pregnancy as part of an herbal regime to ensure safe labour. The alkaloids in the plant include haemanthamines, haemanthidine, 6-β-hydroxycrinamine, scapunine, and scadoxucines.
Forest Fireball Lily · Rwenzori Bloodlily · Scadoxus longifolius · Dwarf Paintbrush Lily · Bloodlily · Scadoxus nutans · Pungwe Lily · Scadoxus pseudocaulus · Bloodlilies
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Scadoxus puniceus 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.
