Invited Research Paper 
85 
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Figure 1. Photographs of Zephyranthes atamasca (left) and Habranthus 
tubispathus (right) flowers with insets depicting stylized stamens representative 
of the genera. 
Dr. Flory, who had a large collection of live amaryllids, taught me how to 
prepare and make root squashes for chromosome study, and shared insights on 
the many problems needing study in Amaryllidaceae with my concentration to be 
on the tribe Zephyrantheae. A year later we published our first joint paper (Flory 
and Flagg, 1958). This was the beginning of a long and fruitful association with 
joint authorship of many papers dealing with the Amaryllidaceae (Flory and 
Flagg,1959, 1961a, 1961b, 1962a, 1962b, 1981; Flagg and Flory, 1961, 1962a, 
1962b. 1962c, 1963a, 1963b, 1976a, 1976b; Flory, Phillips and Flagg, 1968; 
Flagg, Smith and Flory, 1998). Dr. Flory was given the assignment of doing the 
treatments of Habranthus and Zephyranthes taxa for Flora of North America 
project. As Dr. Flory’s health declined, Dr. Gerald L. Smith and I assumed major 
responsibility for these treatments (Flagg, Smith and Flory, 2002a, 2002b). 
Important Characters in Zephyranthes 
Perianth Color . The first character you notice in the field is the color of the 
perianth. If you notice more than one color in a population of rain-lilies, you 
probably are seeing more than one taxon (Fig. 2). 
