Haemanthus

The evergreen Haemanthus albiflos with broad deciduous leaves and inflorescence.

Blood flowers ( Haemanthus ) are a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae family ( Amaryllidaceae ). It comprises, according to current taxonomy about (11 to ) 22 species. Many of the species, which formerly belonged to this genus, the genus today Scadoxus be attributed. The name Haemanthus derives from the ancient Greek words: αἷμα haima for " blood " and ἄνθος anthos for " flower " or " flower " from, and refers to the blood-red inflorescences (see pictures in the gallery below ) of the first in the early 17. century manner described Haemanthus coccineus. They are mainly based in South Africa and are a Florenelement the capensis.

Description

Blood flowers are mostly deciduous or rarely evergreen, perennial herbaceous plants, with onions as Überdauerungsorganen. They are conspicuously thick, long, sprossbürtige roots. In winter, green: H. amarylloides, H. barkerae, H. canaliculatus, H. coccineus, H. crispus, H. dasyphyllus, H. pubescens, H. sanguineus and H. unifoliatus. In summer, green: H. humilis, H. montanus. Evergreen are albiflos H., H. deformis, H. pauculifolius. Full-grown plants, one, two, four, or rarely six undergraduate, upright or flat spreading leaves, which are leathery or somewhat fleshy. In some species the leaves are hairy.

From the bulbs sprout thick, fleshy Blütenstandsschäfte. Striking the doldige inflorescence is because of at least four cup-shaped, often intensely colored bracts, which are very important for the attraction of pollinators. In contrast, the six bracts are slightly reduced and relatively inconspicuous; they are small and red to pink, rarely white. The hermaphrodite flowers are triple. Except for H. carneus the stamens are long. Three carpels are fused into one inferior ovary, with only one or two ovules per ovary chamber. The straight style ends in a tiny scar. The whole inflorescence acts as a flower, pollination biological unit, for attracting the pollinators. The flowers produce lots of nectar and pollen.

Are formed berries, which contain many seeds; they have in common with the Scadoxus and distinguishes the two from the other genera of the tribe. The egg-shaped to spherical berries when ripe white, orange, pink to red, and they are usually aromatic. The egg-shaped, fleshy seeds are red, green or opal-like shimmering.

System

The genus Haemanthus belongs to the tribe Haemantheae within the family of the Amaryllis family ( Amaryllidaceae ).

In the genus there are about (11 to ) 22 species:

• Haemanthus albiflos Jacq.
• Haemanthus amarylloides Jacq.
• Haemanthus × andromeda Laplace
• Haemanthus avasimontanus Dinter
• Haemanthus barkerae Snijman
• Haemanthus canaliculatus Levyns
• Haemanthus carneus Gawl.
• Haemanthus coccineus L.
• Haemanthus crispus Snijman
• Haemanthus dasyphyllus Snijman
• Haemanthus deformis Hook. f
• Haemanthus graniticus Snijman
• Haemanthus humilis Jacq.
• Haemanthus lanceifolius Jacq.
• Haemanthus montanus Baker
• Haemanthus namaquensis R.A.Dyer
• Haemanthus nortieri Isaac
• Haemanthus pauculifolius Snijman & Van Wyk
• Haemanthus pubescens L. f
• Haemanthus pumilio Jacq.
• Haemanthus sanguineus Jacq.
• Haemanthus tristis Snijman
• Haemanthus unifoliatus Snijman

Pictures

Haemanthus coccineus: inflorescences, which act as flower blossoms while the plant has no leaves:

Swell

• AW Meerow & JR Clayton: Generic relationships among the baccate - fruited Amaryllidaceae ( tribe Haemantheae ) inferred from plastid and nuclear non-coding DNA sequences. in Plant Syst. Evol. 244, 2004, pp. 141-155: Online. doi: 10.1007/s00606-003-0085-z
• Dee Snijman: Haemanthus L., 2005: Online in plantzafrica.com