Tuesday 12 March 2013

BLOOD LILY

Haemanthus (blood lily) is a Southern African genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, with some 22 known species, endemic to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. About 15 species occur in the winter rainfall region of Namaqualand and the Western Cape, the remainder being found in the summer rainfall region, with one species Haemanthus albiflos occurring in both regions.

Haemanthus coccineus, the Blood Flower or Paintbrush Lily, is a bulbous geophyte in the genus Haemanthus, native to Southern Africa.The generic name Haemanthus is derived from the Greek words haima for blood and anthos for flower; coccineus is the Latin word for red or scarlet. It now blooms quite happily in a pot in our garden. The flower is followed by the growth of two enormous, horizontal, flat leaves that look almost as remarkable as the blossom.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

5 comments:

  1. Cool, it looks like a sea anemone.

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  2. Wow, what an interesting and gorgeous flower! Love the sharp red colour!

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  3. Oh, my goodness...what a beautiful picture with co much color and detail. It is like the bloom is right here in the room with me. genie

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  4. Gorgeous flower! Fabulous shot.

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  5. oh my, there is an entire garden inside this flower. Would love to examine it. :)

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