162 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
little care it will thrive everywhere in 
the State. The flowers are produced on 
stems about two feet high, and each stem 
carries a magnificent umbel of from four 
to six large trumpet-shaped blossoms. 
The ground color is a very brilliant 
cherry-red, and each segment has a dis¬ 
tinct white band. It exhales a delicate 
aromatic fragrance, which becomes quite 
powerful when thousands of flowers are 
open at the same time. This is the first 
hybrid that was ever raised.- In the be¬ 
ginning of the last century, an English 
watchmaker by the j’name of Johnson, 
crossed Hippeastrum vittatum with H. 
Reginae, and the result was this fine 
Amaryllis, which flowered for the first 
time in 1810. Thousands of hybrids 
soon followed, but this is the only one 
which has held its own—“the survival of 
the fittest.” It is so beautiful that it 
should find a place in every garden in 
Florida. 
Hippeastrum Reginae is said to be a 
native of Mexico and the West Indies to 
Brazil and Peru. I have not succeeded 
in obtaining it from its native wilds. A 
bulb received from Europe about ten 
years ago has only formed two offsets 
so far. It grows well and flowers reg¬ 
ularly each year. The color is a glowing 
scarlet, with a greenish-white star. My 
plants are evergreen. 
H. vittatum exhibits funnel-shaped, 
slightly fragrant flowers. The ground 
color is pure white, with broad white 
bands, which are bordered on each side 
by a very distinct purplish-crimson stripe. 
Its native home is in the rather dry re¬ 
gions of the Andes of Peru. This species 
grows much better in California than in 
the humid climate of Florida, and most 
of the Amaryllis hybrids, have origin¬ 
ated in the former state, are produc¬ 
tions of this species. No other species 
has been used so much for hybridizing 
purposes in bygone days. Very beautiful 
forms were frequently obtained. They 
were, however, weak growers. They had 
small, long-tubed flowers with narrow 
segments, and the form was invariably 
imperfect. For this reason, neither the 
species nor its hybrids are used any 
longer by the best plant-breeders. I have 
abandoned its use long ago. 
The Funnel-shaped Amaryllis (H. 
solandri florum), I have received repeat¬ 
edly from Caracas, Venezuela. It is de¬ 
ciduous, like the last-named, and grows 
abundantly on the grassy plains or 
llanos. The color is greenish-white and 
the tube is about ten inches long. It 
exhales a very strong fragrance. 
H. solandri florum conspicuum. This 
is one of the most beautiful Amaryllis in 
existence and deliciously fragrant. The 
flowers are long trumpet-shaped, some¬ 
what reminding one of the Easter Lily; 
and its stems, which carry a magnificent 
umbel of from six to eight flowers, grow 
three to four feet high. The ground 
color varies from pure white to deep pink, 
striped and lined with deep purplish-red, 
and suffused a little with scarlet. It is 
much superior to the type. Some years ago 
a friend of mine in San Jose, Costa Rica, 
whom I had asked to keep an eye on 
the different wild and cultivated forms 
of Amaryllis in Costa Rica, informed me 
that only H. vittatum was growing abun¬ 
dantly in the gardens. He sent me at the 
same time a few bulbs. When opening 
the box, I saw at once that it could not 
be H. vittatum, as the bulbs were of 
different form, and they were covered, 
moreover, with deep brownish-black 
tunics, while in H. vittatum they are light 
grayish-brown. When the bulbs began 
