Scadoxus puniceus
Scadoxus puniceus, commonly known as the paintbrush lily, is a species of bulbous plant. It is native to much of southern and eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa. Scadoxus puniceus can be found in cool, shady habitat such as ravines and forests, where it is often found in moist leaf litter. Other common names include snake lily, royal paintbrush, King-of-Candida, African blood lily, rooikwas, isisphompho, and umgola. There are nine species of Scadoxus of which three, S. puniceus, S. multiflorus and S.membranaceus, occur in South Africa.
Description
The bright red, round fruits are about a centimeter wide, and each produces a single opalescent seed.Taxonomy
The genus was named by the polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, who did not explain its etymology. The name is possibly from doxus meaning "glory" or "splendour" in Ancient Greek, referring to the scarlet flowers; the prefix sca means "obscure" or "hidden", or from the Greek "skia" = shade. One source reports the origin of the name to be unclear. The species name puniceus means "reddish-purple". Previously classified as part of Haemanthus, it was separated mainly because of its stalked leaves.Synonyms
- Gyaxis puniceus Salisb.
- Haemanthus fax-imperii Cufod.
- Haemanthus goetzei Harms
- Haemanthus insignis Hook.
- Haemanthus magnificus Herb.
- Haemanthus natalensis Hook.
- Haemanthus orchidifolius Salisb.
- Haemanthus puniceus L.
- Haemanthus puniceus var. fortuita Herb.
- Haemanthus puniceus var. magnificus Herb.
- Haemanthus redouteanus M.Roem.
- Haemanthus redouteanus var. subalbus M.Roem.
- Haemanthus rouperi auct.
- Haemanthus superbus Baker