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. This information is from Cameron McMaster. Most people grow this species in part sun. If the plants get too much sun, they will look chlorotic, although still bloom very nicely (see the photos from the UC Botanical Garden below). This species doesn't appear to require a dry winter rest to bloom.
Photo 1 from Cameron McMaster shows plants growing on the Kat River in the Eastern Cape. Photo 2 from Andrew Harvie shows this species growing on the coastal sand dunes at the mouth of the Kei River in the Eastern Cape.
The photos below show plants in cultivation. Photos 1-3 were taken by Cameron McMaster and photos 4-5 were taken by Byron Amerson showing a 4-week-old seedling sown in early 2009 from seed supplied by Silverhill.
Photos 1-3 from Mary Sue Ittner shows plants grown from seed blooming in three different years in late fall-early winter in Northern California. Photos 4-5 were taken by Nhu Nguyen at the UC Botanical Garden where this plant grows in a very sunny spot.
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 spathe valves and glabrous, erect or flat leaves. It flowers February to May and is in leaf from May to October. There are three subspecies, distinguished by the number of spathe valves, perianth length and leaf morphology.
Haemanthus amarylloides subsp. amarylloides is known from localized populations at Grootvlei in Namaqualand, along the edge of the Bokkeveld mountains near Nieuwoudtville, and Gifberg near Vanrhyns Pass. The inflorescence has 4-6 spathe valves, the perianth measures 12-19mm long, leaves are stiff, recurved to erect, up to 40 mm wide and firm-textured. Photo 1-3 were taken by Michael Mace, show two views of the flower head, and a closeup of a single floret. His photos were taken of a bulb growing in San Jose, California, where it blooms in August, one of the earliest amaryllids to bloom in the heat of late summer.
Haemanthus amarylloides subsp. polyanthus occurs in large populations in Namaqualand between Springbok and the Kamiesberg. The inflorescence has (5)6-9 spathe valves, perianth measures 7-10 mm long, the segments linear, widely spreading and the leaves are flaccid. Photo 1 of the leaves was taken by Alan Horstmann. Photos 2-4 were taken by Nhu Nguyen.
Haemanthus amarylloides subsp. toximontanus is a threatened species found in only five locations in the Gifberg where it is restricted to seasonally wet rock ledges. According to the SANBI red list it is threatened by harvesting for horticultural purposes and altered drainage as a result of surrounding agricultural activities. The inflorescence has 4-6 spathe valves, the perianth measure 12-19mm long, leaves adpressed to the ground, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, 55-120 mm wide and succulent. The photo by Jacob Knecht is of a plant from the top of the Gifberg. The leaves are still young and eventually will be adpressed to the soil.
Haemanthus barkerae is found in the plateau between the Bokkeveld mountains near Nieuwoudtville, South Africa. It flowers in March-April (late summer - early fall). Flowers are pinkish with yellow stamens. The plant has 2 leaves with spotting at the bases. This is a clumping species. Dylan Hannon noted that this species "stays small (6-8 plants grow comfortably though cramped in a 6" (15cm) pot)". It takes 5-6 years to flower from seeds. The first photo below shows first year seedlings grown by Nhu Nguyen. The second and third photos from Mary Sue Ittner show a first flowering in northern California August 2009 from a bulb grown from seed. The fourth through sixth photos show how the bud emerges. In the fourth photo, taken in early morning, the bracts are just starting to emerge and are translucent white. In the fifth photo, taken in the late afternoon of the same day, the bracts have turned light pink and the florets are starting to emerge. In the sixth photo, taken a day and a half later, the florets are opening. From a distance, the flower looks like a bright pink autumn crocus. Photos 4-6 by Michael Mace.
The following photos show H. barkerae in seed. The first photo shows the infructescence. Fertilized fruit range in size from peas to small grapes, and are the color of pink cotton candy (the twist ties mark unsuccessful hybrid crosses with Nerine and Amaryllis that were attempted by the grower). When the fruits are mature, they drop to the ground. As shown in the second photo, the fruits are opaque and firm when they first drop off the plant, but rapidly liquefy. The fruit on the right is breaking down. The third photo shows the fruit cut open to display the seed inside, which is glossy and dark reddish brown. Photos by Michael Mace.
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. An article here describes the plant's rapid response to a fire. 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. Even though these come from summer rainfall areas, they come from high areas from 1000-2000 meters. In cultivation, it seems that they want to grow in the winter in the northern hemisphere (even from seeds). Plants are easy to grow if kept pot-bound and in part shade. Mature plants are happy and will flower in a 4" pot, according to Dylan Hannon.
Photographs from Cameron McMaster and Mary Sue Ittner from Glen Avon and Waainek show the progression of the flowers to the fruit from January into February.
Photos by Nhu Nguyen and Byron Amerson show the seeds which have sprouted. The second shows seedlings sown in spring 2009 from seed supplied by Silverhill that are about 8 weeks old in the image.
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. The exserted stamen 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 is found on coastal scrub and rocky slopes in a wide distribution, from the western edge of the Eastern Cape (transitional rainfall patterns), westwards through the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape and up to the arid regions of Namaqualand and Namibia. This is an enormous range of 2000+ kilometers and climate variation! Because of that, there are many forms of the species. The flower stems can be reddish, or blotched with red and the leaves have varying degrees of stripes and dots on the underside. The species flowers in autumn before the leaves appear and the flowers are very similar to Haemanthus sanguineus although the leaves are generally not adpressed. This species is one of the most commonly cultivated species of the genus. It requires a well drained medium, full sun, good water during the growing season, and a dry summer rest.
Photos 1-4 were taken by Cameron McMaster showing the flowers, the fruit, and leaves photographed in the Overberg. Photo 5 of the leaves was taken by Mary Sue Ittner near Bainskloof September 2006. Photo 6 from Alan Horstmann shows the seeds.
Photo 1 is of a plant grown and photographed by Doug Westfall. This view shows the beautifully marked stem of this clone. This one blooms faithfully every year. It produces a large number of seeds every second year. Photo 2 is from Lyn Edwards. Photo 3 by Angelo Porcelli shows a 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. Photos 4-6 were taken by Nhu Nguyen. Photo 5 shows beautiful spotted markings on the peduncle of this form. Photo 6 shows a different form with giant leaves. Note that there are ice crystals on the leaves. This was due to light frost (-2C for about 6 hours) and once the ice melted away, the leaves returns to normal.
The photos below were taken by Nhu Nguyen at the UC Botanical Garden showing various aspect of this beautiful form with glaucous blue leaves.
The photos below were taken by Nhu Nguyen. Photos 1-3 were taken at the Strybing Arboretum/San Francisco Botanical Garden. Photo 4 was taken at the Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh.
Photos below by Nhu Nguyen show a progression of development of a form from Lüderitz, Namibia.
Photos below show a form with particularly wide leaves from Cape Agulhas with a U.S. ten cent piece for scale (2cm), grown by Jacob Knecht. The leaves look like H. sanguineus but the bulb shape belongs to the coccineus group.
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. The last two photos by Alessandro Marinello.
Haemanthus index - Haemanthus D-L - Haemanthus M-Z