Ammocharis is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family from Sub-Saharan Africa that has 5 species.
Ammocharis coranica, known as the Karoo Lily, occurs throughout the Karoo and its range extends into the eastern grassland of the summer rainfall area at altitudes between 700 and 1500 metres on flats or in depressions which are seasonally wet, although its habitat is characterised by lengthy dry periods and severe droughts. Cameron McMaster has provided extremely interesting information about this species in a PBS list post.
Photos below from Cameron McMaster show this species flowering after fire in grassland in the Cathcart District, flowering in habitat, growing in association with Nerine huttoniae in stony Karoo flats, and in fruit in the Willowmore district of the Karoo.
An unusual white-flowered form growing in the collection of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Photo by Rogan Roth.
Ammocharis coranica in habitat, about 30 km west of Kimberley, South Africa. When in flower they form red pockets of colour in the veld. The flowers open from the outside inwards, about an hour before sunset. If watched closely one can see the actual opening (bursting!) of the buds. The last photo was taken late in the evening, just after the new flowers opened, and show the new lighter and the older darker flowers. This picture was taken in my garden, where the bulbs receive 25 minutes of sprinkler water every sixth day. They bloom regularly, some bulbs up to four times a season. They originally grew in a Kimberley suburb in association with Ipomoea bolusii, a Brachystelma sp., Boophane disticha, and other bulbous species inbetween grass, unfortunately this area is now a high density housing complex. These photos by Christiaan van Schalkwyk.
Ammocharis tinneana The range of this species includes a large number of sub-Saharan countries including Rwanda, Zaire, Chad, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. My plant was bought as a Kenyan form and it bloomed for the first time for us in mid-May of 2007 in Santa Barbara, California. It receives winter rainfall but acts as a summer grower. The flowers were sweetly fragrant and of a colour difficult to capture with a camera. Photo from Jacob Knecht.
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