AMARYLLIS ACRAMANII PULCIIERRIMA. 
5 
AMARYLLIS ACRAMANII PULCHERRIMA. 
Nat. Order, Amaryllidaceje. 
Generic Character. —Amaryllis, Linn.—Perianth corolline, 
superior; tube short, or wanting; limb six-parted, sub-ringent, 
with nearly equal recurved lobes, the throat often with scales. 
Stamens six, inserted in the throat of the perianth; filaments 
free, decimate or erect, nearly equal, or alternately long and 
short; anthers versatile. Ovary inferior, three-celled; ovules 
numerous, inserted in two rows in the central angles of the 
cells, nearly horizontal, anatropous; style filiform, elongated, 
taking the direction of the stamens; stigma gaping, or three¬ 
toothed, the teeth recurved. Capsule membranous, oblong- 
three-sided, or depressed-spherical, three-celled, loculicidally 
three-valved. Seeds numerous, globose, or paleaceous-com¬ 
pressed, margined or winged, sometimes fleshy, by suppression 
solitary, filling the whole cell, or the entire capsule. 
Sub-genus. —IIippeastrum,7/cr5crf.— Perianth almost funnel- 
shaped, the throat of the tube contracted, smooth within, gib¬ 
bous or fringed, lobes of the limb unequal. Stamens inserted in 
the throat, decimate, curved upwards toward the end, unequal 
Style in the direction of the stamens; stigma three-lobed, or 
three-toothed. Capsule with three furrows. Seeds in one series 
in the cells, imbricated; the testa black, often margined. 
Amaryllis aulica, Ker. — Scape two-flowered; flowers 
ringent; leaves shining; crown of the tube firm, coloured, 
obsoletely toothed; lacinia involute below at the bottom of the 
limb ; stamens included.— [Pot. Register, vi. 444.) 
Varies with broader and more equal and obtuse segments of 
the perianth— (A. platypetala, Bot. Reg., xii., 1038.) 
Hybrid. Amaryllis Acramanii pulcherrima.—A cross be¬ 
tween A. aulica and A. Johnsoni, having a broad, scarlet-crim¬ 
son perianth, veined and reticulated with a deeper shade, and 
with a broad green stripe at the base of each segment. 
f DESCRIPTION.—Leaves bright green, broad, tapering to an obtuse summit. Scape two or 
/ more-flowered, glaucous. Flowers large and spreading; segments of the perianth broad, ovate, 
acuminate, somewhat undulate, green at the base, with a stripe of green extending some distance 
up the middle of the disk of each lobe, the rest of the limb deep scarlet-crimson, (blood-colour,) 
deeper in the middle, and with indistinct deeper veins and blotches forming a kind of reticula¬ 
tion. The stamens decimate, green below, red above, the pollen yellow. The style which 
takes the direction of the stamens is likewise green below and red above, with the inner sur¬ 
faces of the three-parted stigma white. 
History. —This plant, which was shown at the Horticultural Society’s Exhibition in May 
1850, under the above name, is stated to be a hybrid between A. aulica and A. Johnsoni , the 
latter of which is regarded as a hybrid form. It appears to take its colour from the former, 
and the stripings Rom the latter, and is a remarkably rich-looking flower, from its full colour 
and the breadth of the segments of the perianth. The present name is hardly a convenient 
one, since the name of A. Acramanii was previously given to a hybrid between A. aulica platy¬ 
petala and A. psittacina, by the raisers of both plants, Messrs. James Garraway and Co., of 
Bristol; the present having been called A. Acramanii pulcherrima merely on account of the 
resemblance in form, and size of the flowers, to the original A. Acramanii. 
Our figure of this fine bulb was taken from the plant already alluded to as having been 
exhibited by the raisers, Messrs. Garraway, Mayes, h Co., nurserymen, of Bristol.—A. H. 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE GENUS AMARYLLIS. 
By Mr. M. SAUL, Gardener to the Bight Hon. Lord Stotjrton, Aleerton Park, Yorkshire. 
mmS splendid and beautiful family of bulbous plants appears to me not to be so extensively culti- 
A vated as it deserves, containing, as it does, so many varieties of surpassing loveliness, beauty, and 
grandeur. This, of itself, is sufficient to secure for it a large share of attention. But it has a still 
stronger recommendation for extensive culture; namely, that it can be made to produce its gorgeous 
and magnificent flowers equally as fine during the autumn and winter months as at any other season; 
on which account it is invaluable to all who have conservatories and drawing-rooms to keep gay during 
these months; for though modern gardening furnishes a long list of plants well adapted for this 
purpose, still the many truly elegant and superb varieties we now possess, the length of time they con¬ 
tinue in flower, and the very pleasing variety they make, very justly give them a claim to a high place 
among decorative plants. 
The few remarks which I offer on their cultivation will be a mere outline of the mode I adopt. I 
find all the varieties of the Amaryllis delight in good light turfy loam with a little rotten dung, or some 
partially decomposed leaves and a little sand. All the larger kinds, when placed in good large sized 
pots—all other conditions being favourable—throw up magnificent flower stems. I have had a bulb of 
A. Johnsoni, that threw up at one time four strong flower stems, each of which had four flowers. A 
more splendid object than this it is scarcely possible to conceive. 
The number and size of the flowers will depend on the amount of organized matter stored up in 
the bulb, which is a magazine that contains all the nutritive matter collected from the leaves. 
