The Amaryllis Family: Genus Hippeastrum

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Bulbs of the World

The Amaryllis Family: genus Hippeastrum

The genus Hippeastrum contains the plants we usually think of as "amaryllis". The huge bulbs of hybrid amaryllis we find in the supermarkets and garden shops are the results of 300 years of hybridizing the genus Hippeastrum in the greenhouses of Holland.
The wild species of Hippeastrum grow in South America, from Peru and Brazil to Argentina. Some species of Hippeastrum:

aulicum
cybister
leopoldii
lapacense

nelsonii
parodii
reticulatum
papilio

Growing the so-called "Dutch Hybrid Amaryllis".

These bulbs bloom very reliably the first time you grow them. Thereafter, bloom will depend on you. See our suggestions for care and culture of amaryllis.

Other Sources of Information

Bulbous Plants of Southern Africa, Neil du Plessis and Graham Duncan, Tafelberg Pub. Ltd., Cape Town (1989).
Bulbs for Warm Climates, Thad M. Howard, University of Texas Press, Austin (2001).
Bulbs, Revised Edition, John E. Bryan, Timber Press, Portland (2002).
Cape Bulbs, by Richard L. Doutt, Timber Press, Portland (1994).
RHS Manual of Bulbs, John Bryan and Mark Griffiths, Eds., Timber Press, Portland (1995).

For a list of species names, see the Missouri Botanic Garden's Tropicos On-Line Database at http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html

For more Hippeastrum species, [click here]. For a list of Hippeastrum species, [click here].

For Hippeastrum species hybrids, [click here]. Growing Hippeastrum from seeds, [click here].

For information about this page, contact Jim Shields, jim@shieldsgardens.com
Visit the Great Lakes bulbs group home page.

For information about this account, contact:

James E. Shields,
jim@shieldsgardens.com

aulicum	cybister	leopoldii	lapacense
nelsonii	parodii	reticulatum	papilio

For more Hippeastrum species, [click here].	For a list of Hippeastrum species, [click here].
For Hippeastrum species hybrids, [click here].	Growing Hippeastrum from seeds, [click here].