''Haemanthus albiflos'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to the coast and mountains of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is sometimes given the English name paintbrush, not to be confused with ''

Castilleja ''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of Annual plant, annual and Perennial plant, perennial mostly herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska sout ...

'' species which also have this name. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

bulbous 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 duri ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

geophyte A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...

, prized horticulturally for its unusual appearance and extreme tolerance of neglect. ''H. albiflos'' is the only ''

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 ...

'' species found in both winter and summer rainfall regions, and has a mainly coastal distribution from the southern

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 ...

through the Eastern Cape to

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

, showing a preference for cool, shady spots.

Etymology

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''albiflos'' means "white flower" in English. As a pot plant it has been called "elephant's tongue" and "elephant ear" - for its leaves - or "shaving-brush (or paintbrush) plant" - for its flowers.

Description

The upper half of the bulb is usually exposed and bright green. Since it produces a pair of leaves once a year and is evergreen, the plant may have up to three pairs of leaves. The leaves are up to long, and may have a covering of short, soft hairs, and occasionally yellow spots on the upper surface. In late autumn and winter, brush-like

umbels UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

comprising multiple tiny white florets are borne on stout stems, followed by fleshy red oval fruits which have white seeds. The whole plant grows to tall by wide.

Cultivation

''H. albiflos'' is hardy down to about but does not survive prolonged freezing temperatures. This is a very successful indoor plant where it is too tender to be grown outdoors, and thrives on "healthy neglect". It prefers not to be in full sun, but is very tolerant of under-watering, and flowers better if restricted in a small pot. This plant has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Propagation

It reproduces readily by

adventitious Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant ...

buds or offsets, which may be removed when the flowering period is over. Offsets can be separated carefully from the parent plant to be grown on, preferably when they are fairly well developed, and ensuring that there is some root on them. Fruits are only occasionally produced indoors, presumably for lack of pollinating insects, but when one does produce a seed, this can be sown, and should grow, though it is a slower process. With very little care, this plant can be propagated for many years.

References

Gallery

Haemanthus albiflos00.jpg, Haemanthus albiflos01.jpg, Haemanthus albiflos 180205.jpg, Haemanthus albiflos02.jpg, {{Taxonbar, from=Q1459502 albiflos Flora of the Cape Provinces Flora of KwaZulu-Natal Garden plants Plants described in 1797