Here are a few more species of Nerine.

Nerine filamentosa is native to the Eastern Cape Province. It is a summer-growing species which flowers in the summer and is evergreen, even in winter. The leaves are very thin and thread-like. The small, 1-inch pink flowers are borne in a flattened umbel of 3 or 4 blossoms atop a scape 6 to 12 inches tall. The tepals recurve strongly, and the filaments extend straight out in front of the flower almost an inch beyond the tepals. The scape is sparsely covered with short bristly hairs.

Nerine filifolia is native to the Eastern Cape, Free State, and Mpumalanga in South Africa as well as Swaziland. It is characterized by the thread-like leaves. The 1¾-inch flowers are produced in late summer. Scapes are about 8 to 16 inches tall; they are sparsely covered with short bristly hairs. The filaments of the stamens extend almost straight out ward, about 15-20 mm beyond the tepals. Evergreen and summer growing. The plant shown here bloomed in mid- to late summer (early August in central Indiana). This particular specimen is descended from bulbs collected near the crest of the Drakensberg. It has fine hairs on the peduncle and on the pedicels.

For a comparison of N. filifolia with N. filamentosa, see Profiles.

Nerine rehmannii is a very dwarf plant from the Transvaal and Swaziland. It has a few (1 or 2) filiform leaves up to perhaps 5 inches long. The umbel of ½-inch white flowers sits atop a 6-inch scape. This species is summer growing and deciduous in winter, with the flowers appearing in late summer or autumn.

[More Nerine species]              [List of Nerine species]

Sir Peter Smithers spent many years hybridizing nerines. His collection was transferred to the Rothschild estate in England when he retired from active hybridizing. He has kindly allowed us to show some of his work here.

Other Sources of Information

Kirstenbosch Gardening Series: Grow Nerines, by Graham Duncan, pub. by National Botanical Institute, Kirstenbosch, Private Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa. RHS Manual of Bulbs, John Bryan and Mark Griffiths, Eds., Timber Press (1995).
Bulbous Plants of Southern Africa, by Neil du Plessis and Graham Duncan, Tafelberg Pub. Ltd., Cape Town (1989).
"Nerines in Southern Africa", by Rachel Saunders, in HERBERTIA, vol. 52, p. 88 (1997).
Cape Bulbs, by Richard L. Doutt, Timber Press (1994).
Bulbs, Revised Edition, by John E. Bryan, Timber Press, Portland (2002).