192 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



flowers, beaulifully marked at the centre with a splash of iridescent 

 colour, 



Gethyllis (Kukumakranka). — Perianth white with a 

 long slender tube, spreading limb. Stamens 6-20. Ovary 

 hidden among the sheaths of the bulb, ripening partly 

 underground. Fruit a yellowish, fragrant, edible berry, 2-3 

 inches long ; leaves frequently spirally twisted, generally appear- 

 ing after the flowers, with the fruit or later. Flowering in 

 December. Coast, Central, and Western regions. 



Amaryllis. — This plant gave the name to the whole order, 

 and its flowers are certainly beautiful enough to deserve the 

 honour. There is but one species, A. belladonna. Flowers 

 6-12 in an umbel. Pedicels i-ij inch long. Ovules many; 

 capsule large, round ; seeds few. Leaves 7-9, growing after the 

 flower, I foot long and | to | inch broad. The flowers are 

 nearly regular, but the declinate stamens serve as a landing- 

 place for insects. Coast region, flowering in March. 



Nerine. — Tube cut down nearly to the ovary ; lobes 

 curved and frequently waved along the edges, bright red or 

 pink, sometimes flecked with gold. Stamens of two lengths, 

 slightly declinate. Bulbs near the surface; leaves produced 

 with or after the flowers. Umbels 10-40 flowers. In some 

 species the flowers open from the centre of the umbel ; in 

 others the central flowers of the umbel are the last to 

 open. 



Western, Central, Eastern, and Kalahari regions. 



Haemanthus. — " The April Fool " merits its name, as 

 we think when we find that what we took to be a single flower 

 is really a dense umbel of many flowers surrounded by bright 

 red bracts. After the bracts and flowers have withered and 

 fallen, the bright red berries appear. Later come the leaves. 

 They make enough food during the rainy season for the flowers 

 and fruit of the next year, which is stored in the large bulbs. 

 About thirty species are found, both Eastern and Western. 

 Flowering in April. 



Buphane is often confused with Brunsvigia and Cyr- 

 tanthus, the flowers of each genus being in dense umbels on 

 short stout scapes. The differences may be seen by referring 



