This species is found widely distributed in the winter-rainfall area of South Africa, in the Western Cape Province and north into Namibia, and east beyond Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province as far as the Keiskamma river valley. It can be somewhat variable, covering such an extensive range.

                                           © Copyright 2002 by Doug Westfall; all rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.

It blooms in late summer to early autumn; the inflorescence is coral to scarlet, with spathe valves erect. The plant is deciduous, winter growing but sometimes leafs out in late summer. The two or rarely three leaves, with red or dark green striations on the undersides at the base, are strap-like to elliptical in shape, never wider than they are long; recurving, only rarely prostrate.

Rhoda McMaster writes:

"The most easterly occurence of H. coccineus (which flowers in autumn) that we know of is in the Keiskamma River valley, growing amongst the dwarf H. albiflos (which flower in winter, so they don't hybridize). They occur from here in a summer rainfall region, through the winter rainfall region of the W. Cape and up to the arid regions of Namaqualand and Namibia, a range of 2000+ kilometers! The flower stems can be reddish, or blotched with red; and the leaves have varying degrees of stripes on the underside especially."

The bulb is compressed laterally. The tunics are distichous, with margins oblique. The bulbs can get quite large, up to 6 inches across.

Haemanthus coccineus Bredasdorp
Accession #897.A

D. Snijman (1984) "A Revision of The Genus Haemanthus L. (Amaryllidaceae)" Journal of South African Botany, Suppl. vol. 12. Trustees of the National Botanic Gardens of South Africa, publishers.

Other Sources of Information

• Bulbs for Warm Climates, Thad M. Howard, University of Texas Press, Austin (2001).
  
• Bulbs, Revised Edition, John E. Bryan, Timber Press, Portland (2002).
  
• RHS Manual of Bulbs, John Bryan and Mark Griffiths, Eds., Timber Press, Portland (1995).
  
• The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs, John Manning, Peter Goldblatt, & Dee Snijman, Timber Press, Portland and Cambridge (2002).
  
• Cape Bulbs, Richard L. Doutt, Timber Press, Portland and Cambridge (1994).
  
• Namaqualand. South African Wild Flower Guide 1, Annelise Le Roux & Ted Schelpe, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1988).
  
• Outeniqua. South African Wild Flower Guide 2, Audrey Moriarity, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1982).
  
• Karoo. South African Wild Flower Guide 6, David Shearing, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1994).
  
• West Coast. South African Wild Flower Guide 7, John Manning & Peter Goldblatt, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1996).
  
• Southern Overberg. South African Wild Flower Guide 8, Penny Mustart, Richard Cowling, Janice Albertyn, & Colin Patterson-Jones, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1997).
  
• Nieuwoudtville. South African Wild Flower Guide 9, John Manning & Peter Goldblatt, Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (1997).
  

Last updated 13 February 2013
© Copyright 2013 by James E. Shields. All rights reserved.