Barbados lilies or 'amaryllis' (Hippeastrum Herbert) comprise approximately 60 species native to Central and South America and who-knows-how-many hybrids. In their native habitats, the various Hippeastrum species can be found anywhere from stream sides to rocky slopes and from lowlands to mountains.
The flowering scape is hollow and arises from a large bulb. Depending upon the species or hybrid and the growing conditions, the scape will bear one to ten flowers. Often two or even three scapes will arise from a single bulb. Brightly-colored red and orange species are thought pollinated by hummingbirds, while the white flowering species are thought pollinated by large moths. After flowering, the long strap shaped leaves emerge. The leaves supply the bulb with energy; they die back and the bulb goes dormant for several months before flowering again. (A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, C. Brickell and J.D. Zuk, eds., American Horticultural Society, Dorling Kindersley, Ltd. 1996)
The first known South American 'amaryllis' were classified with the similar-looking Amaryllis from Africa. One of the American species had been named Amaryllis equestris by William Aiton in 1789, supposedly from the first pair of emerging leaves appearing like a horse's ears. In the early 1800s, Dean William Herbert realized the South American and African plants were not sufficiently related to be in the same genus. (W3 Tropicos, J. Solomon, Missouri Botanical Garden)
Herbert (1778-1847) was a unique individual—a minister, a botanist, and a naturalist—he also must have been a chess player. He kept the allusion to horses—the name Hippeastrum is thought constructed from the Greek hippeus "horseman or knight" and astron "star", hence the name "knight's-star lilies". But —astrum is also a diminutive and sometimes derogatory suffix, the generic name could well mean "little horseman". (Composition of Scientific Words, R. W. Brown, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1956)
The photographed flowers came from bulbs labeled as Hippeastrum x 'Apple Blossom'. This may be a mislabeling since the flowers appear to have too much red on the petals. But I like them anyway.
