Hippeastrum breviflorum Herb.

Horticultural & Botanical History

First botanically described as Hippeastrum breviflorum by William Herbert in his Amaryllidaceae [Herbert p.137/1837].

‘A very distinct species of a most difficult genus of which roots and dried specimens have been sent by Mr. Tweedie from the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres.  The specimen from which the accompanying figure was taken, blossomed in the stove of the Glasgow Botanic Garden in April, 1836, and promises to be a valuable acquisition to our collections.  I am indebted to the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, for its specific name and character.  Scape nearly three feet high, rounded, glaucous.  Spatha of two lanceolate, mebraneous leaflets.  Umbel, in our specimen, of six flowers, destitute of fragrance.  Pedicels obtusely tetragonal.  Perianth campanulate, its length equalling the diameter of the mouth, formed of six pieces, of which the five upper ones are rather broader than the rest, lanceolate and more closely placed, wavy towards the apex, white, striated; externally slightly tinged with yellow green, and marked with a central, broad red streak, vanishing below the middle; within the same red streak is separated by a white line down the middle.’  [BM t.3549/1837].  First flowered in Britain at the Glasgow Botanic Garden in 1836.  [Baker Am.].

History at Camden Park

Desideratum to Loddiges’ Nursery on 6th January 1845 [MP A2933-2, p.28].  I have found no further record of this plant and it may not have been grown in the gardens.

Notes