Haemanthinae is a small

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants). The first use of this word dates back to the late 19th century. An example of ...

Haemantheae Haemantheae are a tribe of subfamily Amaryllidoideae (family Amaryllidaceae). They are herbaceous monocot perennial flowering plants with a predominantly African distribution. Three subtribes are proposed and six genera including the type genus, ...

, and therefore within the African

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

Amaryllidoideae Amaryllidoideae (Amaryllidaceae ''s.s.'', amaryllids) is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae, Order (biology), order Asparagales. The most recent Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG classification, A ...

. It consists of two

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, ''

Haemanthus ''Haemanthus'' is a Southern African genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Members of the genus are known as blood lily and paintbrush lily. There are some 22 known species, native ...

'', and ''

Scadoxus ''Scadoxus'' is a genus of African and Arabian plants in the Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. The English names blood lily or blood flower are used for some of the species. The genus has close affinities with ''Haemant ...

''.

Description

The genera of Haemanthinae share brush-like

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s, in which the

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

frequently form part of the pollinator attraction system. Not all ''Scadoxus'' form

bulbs In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs during ...

, while all species of ''Haemanthus'' do.

Taxonomy

For the early taxonomic history of these two genera, see Meerow and Clayton (2004). Pax (1888) treated the Amaryllidaceae as four subfamilies, with two tribes in subfamily Amarylloideae, which consisted of two tribes, Amaryllideae and Narcisseae. The former contained six subtribes, placing ''Haemanthus'' together with ''

Clivia ''Clivia'' is a genus of monocot flowering plants native to southern Africa. They are from the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Common names are Natal lily or bush lily. They are herbaceous or evergreen perennial plants, with ...

'' in subtribe Haemanthinae. Hutchinson (1934) subsequently elevated this to

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Haemantheae. Later, Traub placed ''Haemanthus'' with ''Choananthus'' (subsequently submerged in ''Scadoxus'') in tribe Haemantheae in his 1963 monograph on the

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...

. Later the Müller-Doblies' created a narrower concept of Haemantheae as a tribe with Haemanthinae as one of two subtribes and two genera, ''Haemanthus'' and ''Scadoxus''.

Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

research has confirmed this placement, with

Meerow Alan W. Meerow is an American botanist, born in New York City in 1952. He specializes in the taxonomy of the family Amaryllidaceae and the horticulture of palms and tropical ornamental plants. He also works on the population genetics and molecu ...

and Clayton (2004) situating Haemanthinae as one of three subtribes of Haemantheae.

Phylogeny

The Haemanthinae are placed within the Haemantheae as follows:

Subdivision

* ''

'' (21 species) * ''

'' (9–12 species)

Distribution and habitat

''Scadoxus'' is a forest

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

genus, most commonly found in the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

areas of Africa. Haemanthus on the other hand is confined to southern Africa, within the summer and winter rainfall regions of the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Volume 1:

Monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...

ae 1926, Volume 2:

Dicotyledon The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, ...

ae 1934. * * * * * * * * , in * *

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q23012367 Amaryllidoideae Garden plants of Southern Africa Plant subtribes