FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
161 
Knight’s Star. They are all natives of 
the American Tropics, occurring in a 
wild state in the rich vegetable mold of 
the primeval forest; in cool mountain 
glens; among the grass of the llanos; or 
even as epiphytes on trees, among Or¬ 
chids, Bromeliads, Aroids, Ferns, etc. One 
species, the Blue Amaryllis (Hippeastrum 
procerum), grows in the full tropical sun 
on rocks near Petropolis, Brazil. When 
in flower all the species are strikingly 
beautiful—so beautiful that even the dull 
Indian or the indolent peon cannot help 
pausing a moment to admire them. With 
the exception of the fancy-leafed Cala- 
diums, no plants in our Florida gardens 
are admired as much or create such en¬ 
thusiasm as the various Amaryllis and 
their still more gorgeous hybrids. When 
I saw the first clumps of Johnson’s Ama¬ 
ryllis in a garden in Houston, Texas, in 
May, 1879, I stood speechless. Their en¬ 
chanting beauty, their brilliant color and 
refined form overpowered me. From that 
time on to the present day, I made the 
cultivation of this class of plants my spe¬ 
cialty. I entered a field with unlimited 
possibilities. I began to collect the vari¬ 
ous species from their native countries, 
and added the best hybrids from Eu¬ 
ropean collections. I began myself to 
hybridize with excellent results from the 
start. This was about thirty years ago; 
and at present my own hybrids rival in 
beauty of color, perfect form and sub¬ 
stance, the best European collections. I 
grow at present all the species that could 
be obtained, with all the best old and re¬ 
cent hybrids of European plant breeders; 
and my collection of named hybrids con¬ 
sists of about a thousand different vari¬ 
eties. 
All the species are most valuable gar¬ 
den plants here in Florida. There are 
about fifteen species in cultivation, and 
about as many varieties or local forms of 
the different species. 
I11 April, most of the Florida gardens 
are aglow with gorgeous masses of the 
Orang'e Amaryllis or Orange Lily (Hip¬ 
peastrum equestre). It revels in the ap 
parently poor sandy soil, soon forming 
imposing clumps which produce numer¬ 
ous stems, each carrying two large, some¬ 
what nodding, bright orange-red flowers, 
with a yellowish-white star. Planted in 
large groups or beds, these Amaryllis in 
full flower produce a magnificent sight, 
being far more beautiful than Tulips and 
other bedding plants of the northern gar¬ 
den. Planted around palms and in front 
of shrubbery, they are particularly ef¬ 
fective. They form a charming picture 
in long lines on borders, and along ver¬ 
andas, backed by such beautiful shrubs 
the sky-blue Eranthemum (Daedalacan- 
thus nervosus), and the deep-blue Thun- 
bergia erecta, which flowers at the same 
time. This species is a native of the 
West Indies, Central America and North¬ 
ern South America. A beautiful form 
(H. equestre Wolteri) was lately intro¬ 
duced into cultivation from Costa Rica. 
Its flowers are glowing deep orange-scar¬ 
let. 
The double Orange Amaryllis (H. 
equestre Alberti) is common in the gar¬ 
dens of Havana, and is frequently found 
under cultivation in Florida. Its flowers 
last considerably longer than those of the 
single form. 
Johnson’s Amaryllis, the so-called 
Scarlet Lily (Hippeastrum Johnsoni), is 
one of our most valuable garden plants. 
It does not thrive as well in our state as 
in Texas, at Mobile or at Charleston, but 
I have seen magnificent clumps, beds, and 
long borders of it in Orlando. With a 
