Haemanthus species A-C are found on this wiki page.
Haemanthus D-L – Haemanthus M-Z
Haemanthus albiflos is a particularly desirable and easy to grow garden subject equally at home in deep shade on forest floors, on rocky sea shores exposed to salt spray, in coastal dune forest, on cliff faces in hot river valleys where it clings in large clumps to crevasses in full sun, and in shady places on high altitude inland mountain ranges. It is evergreen and multiplies vegetatively, as well as from seed. The attractive white flowers appear in May in its native habitat and the ripe seeds are carried in equally attractive clusters of scarlet fruit. The first four photos and information is from Cameron McMaster. The third photo shows plants growing on the Kat River in the Eastern Cape. The fourth shows the fruit. The last photo from Mary Sue Ittner shows plants blooming the first time from seed in Northern California December 2005.
Haemanthus amarylloides grows from Namaqualand south to Vanrhynsdorp in the northwest Cape. Populations grow in seasonally wet depressions in dry areas, 600 meters above sea level. This species has pink umbels with thick textured valves and narrow glabrous erect or flat leaves. It flowers February to May and is in leaf from May to October. Photo of the leaves taken by Alan Horstmann.
Haemanthus amarylloides subsp. toximontanus is from the top of the Giftberg in Namaqualand, South Africa. Photo by Jacob Knecht.
Haemanthus canaliculatus is found on swampy coastal flats in a very narrow area of the southwest Cape. It has succulent channeled leaves that appear after the inflorescence and have red barring near the base. Leaves are present from May until December and flowering occurs February to March. It has bright red or occasionally pink flowers and resembles Haemanthus sanguineus but has a spreading umbel with 5-7 narrow spathe valves. In nature it only flowers after a fire, but since it flowers in cultivation it is speculated that the clearing of vegetation, not the fire itself, is what stimulates it to bloom. Photos taken by Cameron McMaster near Betty’s Bay in the Overberg. The third picture shows a leaf even though they are not usually present at flowering.
Haemanthus carneus This is an extremely rare species, that is only found in the Somerset East area of the Eastern Cape in Acacia thicket and grassland. It is distinguished by a looser, widely spreading umbel and stamens included well within the perianth, the only known Haemanthus with this feature. It has the same growth pattern as Haemanthus humilis in the wild with leaves emerging just after the flowers (January to March) and persisting to late spring. Photographs from Cameron McMaster show details of the flowers and the fruit (first in January and then in February). Last photograph by Nhu Nguyen showing the seeds which have sprouted.
Plants included by Friis & Nordal in 1976 in this genus were divided into two groups. One had stamens well included and less than half the length of the perianth segments (this group is pictured above). The other group had stamens from well exserted to equal in length to the segments. This group was moved by Dee Snijman in her Revision of the genus Haemanthus into Haemanthus humilis. A picture of that second very attractive group of Haemanthus grown and photographed by Bill Dijk is shown below with his remarks. The flowers as a rule emerge just before the leaves in mid summer. The leaves can grow to very large proportions eventually after flowers are finished. I usually grow the bulbs in containers, but they grow much larger in a nice well-drained spot that gets the morning sun.
Haemanthus coccineus , found on coastal scrub and rocky slopes in a wide distribution, from the Eastern Cape, a summer rainfall region, westwards through the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape and up to the arid regions of Namaqualand and Namibia, an enormous range of 2000+ kilometers and climate variation! The flower stems can be reddish, or blotched with red and the leaves have varying degrees of stripes and dots on the underside. It flowers in autumn before the leaves appear and the flowers are very similar to Haemanthus sanguineus although the leaves are different. The first four photos and information were supplied by Cameron McMaster showing the flowers, the fruit, and leaves photographed in the Overberg. The fifth photo of leaves was taken by Mary Sue Ittner near Bainskloof September 2006. The final photo from Alan Horstmann shows the seeds.
The first photo below is of one grown and photographed by Doug Westfall. This view shows the beautifully marked stem of this clone. There is some variety of markings within this species. This one blooms faithfully every year. It produces a large number of seeds every second year. The second photo is from Lyn Edwards. The third photo show an hidden feature of this species, the nicely marked underside leaves in some forms. Note that these seedlings show tiny hairs too, a trait lost on adult plants. Photo by Angelo Porcelli
Haemanthus crispus, found in Cape Province, Namaqualand. It tends to clump, but may remain solitary. This is one of the smaller Haemanthus with the peduncle 5 to 6 in. (up to 150mm) long. I have been waiting 12 years for this one to bloom and I am not disappointed as one has bloomed this year for the first time. It was suggested that a picture of the leaves be added to the wiki. Note that the spent flower head with a few developing seeds can be seen in the center, partially hidden by the leaf of the bulb on the left. Leaves of immature bulbs lack the undulation seen in the two mature bulbs. The first two photos were taken by Doug Westfall with his description above. The next two photos show the leaves in habitat; the first was taken by Alan Horstmann and the second by Mary Sue Ittner in Namaqualand. This species flowers from March to April, usually earlier in cultivation. Leaves emerge as early as March and die back in October.
Haemanthus index – Haemanthus D-L – Haemanthus M-Z
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