H.EMANTHUS 



THE BULB BOOK 



ILEMAXTHUS 



H. Mackeni. Native of Natal. 

 Bulbs compressed, 3 to 4 ins. thick. 

 Leaves two, contemporary with 

 flowers in November, roundish 

 oblong, 6 to 8 ins. long, 4 to 5 ins. 

 broad, smooth above, but covered 

 with soft whitish hairs on the edges 

 and under-surface. Peduncle very 

 short, with a few-flowered umbel of 

 white flowers. 



H. magnlflcus (//. Rouperi). 

 Native of Natal and Delagoa Bay. 

 Bulbs round, 3 to 4 ins. thick, with 

 a leafy stem 1 to 2 ft. high, not 

 developed till after the flower-stem, 

 and spotted with red-brown. Leaves 

 six to eight, oblong, membranous, 

 bright green, wavy, a foot or more 

 long, narrowed to a short sheathing 

 stalk, and having eight to ten main 

 veins on each side of a distinct mid- 

 rib. The very stout peduncle about 

 a foot high springs from the side of 

 the bulb, and bears large umbels of 

 bright red or pale scarlet flowers 

 with bright-green imbricating bracts. 

 (Floral Mag. 1875, t. 148.) 



The variety insignis has bracts 5 

 to 6 ins. long, overtopping the flowers 

 (Sot. Mag. t. 4745); the variety 

 Gumbletoni has roundish leaves 5 

 to 6 ins. long and broad, with twelve 

 to fifteen main veins on each side 

 of midrib, very stout peduncles 6 to 

 8 ins. high, very dense umbels, and 

 red - brown bracts ; the variety 

 superbus has no leafy stem, and the 

 leaves are narrower than in the type 

 and produced directly from the bulb 

 at the same time as the flowers in 

 spring. 



H. Manni. Native of W. Tropical 

 Africa. Bulbs small, round, with five 

 to six oblong, acute, membranous 

 leaves about 6 ins. long, at the top 

 of a short special stem narrowed to 

 a short channelled stalk, and having 

 about ten main veins on each side of 

 the midrib. Peduncle 8 to 12 ins. 



high, bearing umbels 3 to 4 ins. across 

 of bright red flowers having lance- 

 shaped segments. (Sot. Mag. t. 

 6364.) 



H. mirabilis. A fine species from 

 the Belgian Congo, where it grows in 

 the constant shade of the equatorial 

 forest in a soil composed of sand and 

 vegetable debris, and in a temperature 

 ranging from 60 to 70 F. The 

 leaves are large and strap-shaped, 

 and the salmon-coloured flowers are 

 borne in dense globular trusses 6 to 

 8 ins. through. The six obovate petals 

 spreading, and the stamens being con- 

 spicuously exserted. (Gard. Chron. 

 25th May 1901, fig) 



H. multiflorus (H. abyssinicus ; If. 

 arab^c^ls ; II. delagoensis ; If. teniii- 

 florm ; H. Kalbreyeri). A very vari- 

 able species found growing through- 

 out Tropical Africa, from Sierra 

 Leone to Kordofan, Abyssinia, and 

 Delagoa Bay. This accounts for the 

 numerous synonyms. Bulb li to 3 

 ins. thick. Leaves three to four, on 

 a short special stem, with an oblong 

 blade 6 to 12 ins. long, narrowed into 

 short sheathing stalks. Peduncle 

 distinct from leafy stem, green or 

 spotted with red, and bearing dense 

 umbels 3 to 6 ins. across of blood- 

 red flowers with linear segments and 

 green reflexed bracts. (Sot. Mag. 

 tt. 961, 1995, 3870; Andr. Sot. Rep. 

 t. 318 ; Red. Lil. t. 204 ; Lodd. Sot. 

 Cab. tt. 912, 1948; Fl. d. Sen: tt. 

 52, 2377 ; III. Hort. n.s. t. 354.) 



H. natalensis. A native of Natal, 

 with round oblique bulbs 2 to 3 ins. 

 thick, and having a leafy stem 1 ft. 

 high, bearing eight to nine bright 

 green, membranous, oblong leaves 

 over 1 ft. long, narrowed to a short 

 sheathing stalk, the lower tipped and 

 spotted on the back with red-brown. 

 The compressed furrowed peduncle 

 arises from the axis of one of the 

 scale-leaves, and is about 1 ft. high, 



