AMARYLLIS (from Amaryllis, the name of a country-woman mentioned by Theocritus and Virgil). ORD. Amaryllideæ. Half-hardy or hardy, deciduous, bulbous plants. Flowers large, sweet-scented, pedicelled; spathe two-leaved; umbels few-flowered; perianth with a very short tube, funnel-shaped, six-parted, sub-regular or irregular; segments many-nerved, broad, undulate, spreading somewhat at the apices; stamens at the summit of the tube, unequal, declined; anthers fixed by the middle, incumbent, curved into a circular arch after bursting; style declined; stigma thickened, sub-three-lobed; scape tall, solid, compressed. Capsule obovate; seeds globose, fleshy. Leaves appearing at a different season from the scapes, numerous, strap-shaped. The following genera are sometimes arranged hereunder, but in this work are treated separately: Brunsvigia, Crinum, Hippeastrum, Nerine, Sprekelia, Sternbergia, Vallota, Zephyranthes. Warm, dry, and well-drained positions in front of hothouses, or at the base of south or south-west walls, are the most suitable sites for A. Belladonna and its varieties. The soil should be composed of good, fibrous loam, leaf mould, and sand, in equal parts. Insert the bulbs 6in. to 8in. deep, and surround with sand, after which they may be covered with the compost, which should be pressed firmly about them; they should not be again disturbed for years, when they will ultimately establish themselves, and produce grand masses of blossom. The best time to plant a fresh stock is June or July, when they commence root-action, before the flower-stems are sent up. In their growing season, and in dry weather, an occasional soaking of clear water, or liquid manure, will be greatly beneficial. The extremely ornamental plants now largely grown, and frequently classed as Amaryllis in nurserymen's catalogues, belong to the genus Hippeastrum. For pot-culture of the Belladonna Lily, see Hippeastrum.
FIG. 75. AMARYLLIS BELLADONNA,
showing Habit at
Flowering Season.
A. Belladonna.* Belladonna Lily. This splendid species is very variable, both in the size and colour of the flowers, frequently producing variously-shaded flowers, from almost white to a reddish or purplish hue. Autumn. West Indies, 1712. See Fig. 75. The leaves and flowers are not produced together. In Fig. 76 they are both shown in the same illustration for economy of space.
A. B. pallida (pale).* A pale-coloured variety. h. 2ft.
AMASONIA (named in honour of Thomas Amason, one of the earlier American travellers). SYN. Taligalea. ORD. Verbenaceæ. A genus comprising six species (which may be reduced to four) of stove sub-shrubs, natives of tropical America. Flowers yellow or sulphur-coloured, racemose or panicled; calyx five-cleft; corolla five-cleft, sub-bilabiate. Leaves alternate, toothed or rarely entire. For culture of the only species introduced, see Clerodendron.
A. punicea (reddish-brown). fl. yellow, with pretty, brownish bracts; peduncles once or twice trifid, cymose or one-flowered. May and June. l. slender, 3in. to 2in. long, oblong- or elliptic-lanceolate, shortly acuminate, unequally toothed. Stem erect, simple or slightly branched. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Brazil, 1884.
AMATEUR. This term is usually meant to refer to one who has a taste for a particular pursuit, and who is, in a pecuniary point of view, independent of it. An Amateur gardener is one who rears and grows his plants, and cultivates his garden, for his own amusement—for mere love of horticulture.
FIG. 76. AMARYLLIS BELLADONNA, showing Bulb and Flower Spike.
AMBER, SWEET. See Hypericum Androsæmum.