Hippeastrum (Double White Nymph Amaryllis, or Double Sonata Alfresco)

Reinett Olivier (#57 in the village where we live) called to invite me to look at a beautiful flower that she has growing on her front porch as it had 8 flower buds that she said was unusual, and so I went to investigate. I thought that it looks a bit like an amaryllis, but not Amaryllis belladonna, the March Lily as we call it, that flower in Feb-Mar-Apr around Cape Town and originates in Western Cape, particularly the rocky southwest area between the Olifants River Valley and Knysna.

  

The double white nymph amaryllis

Amaryllis belladonna from Wikipedia

 My first port-of-call is usually iNaturalist, but after a few days of posting an observation of a cultivated member of the family Amaryllidaceae, there were no identifications. Philke Cakebread (#98)  suggested that it is Hesperantha, but that did not look quite right (Onions are in the same family as Amaranthus and Hesperantha is in the same family as Iris). Philke knew that the correct name started with 'H' - I did not know that, but at least she did! Teams can generally do far better than individuals. 

So I did further sleuthing. 

Reinett mentioned that she had bought it at a local shop and that there are more available there, so I went to see if there were any so that I could ‘put a name to the face’. None there, but I asked at the neighbouring flower shop, and the helpful lady there said my photo shows a white amaryllis. Google was my next port of call and after several searches and modified searches and clicking on multiple links (some of which are shown below) I have come to the rough conclusion that it is Hippeastrum, a member of the amaryllid family, and more specifically White Nymph Amaryllis or Double Sonata Alfresco. I have not been able to ascertain a species name, but it may be a hybrid between species. Common names are so confusing – in a book that I wrote about Common Names of Karoo Plants I mentioned one plant (Sutherlandia frutescens, now a synonym of Lessertia frutescens, best known as Cancer bush) that has about 25 common names and one common name biesie has about six scientific names listed for it!

This exploration about Reinett’s amaryllis highlights why I usually leave the naming of plants to the experts while I am content to use a simple descriptive name that I will easily remember while I am working with the species in the field, and then give a specimen of the plant to a taxonomist and then I use the official name given by the expert when I produce a publication or a report. I delight in plants, their magnificent beauty, and the joy that they give, but with more than 800 plant species on the Cape Peninsula, some 2 200 species in the Cape Town area and about 24 000 in South Africa, I have not tried to remember that many names. Then there are hundreds or thousands of birds, reptiles, mammals, fungi, en so voorts! The sad thing is that I have forgotten so many names that I did know! And there is also the challenge that taxonomists change so many names and the name that I knew is a now a synonym! I love the magnificent vegetation, species, and diversity of our natural heritage in our wonderful South Africa. But I do not pretend to be a John Acocks who spent some 40 years making hundreds of thousands of observations in about 4 000 sites scattered all around South Africa and collected some 28 000 specimens, apparently being familiar with about 18 000 species names! I take my hat off to him! I am blessed to work with people like him and others in the team that fill in for my inadequacies as I try to contribute something that is, hopefully, of some value to those around me – good folk like Acocks and those reading this newsletter.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/138368338 

https://www.gardenia.net/plant/amaryllis-white-nymph

https://www.gardenia.net/plant/amaryllis-alfresco

https://www.dutchbulbs.com/product/double-amaryllis-white-nymph

https://www.dutchgrown.com/products/jumbo-double-amaryllis-white-nymph

https://ginghamgardens.com/amaryllis-the-perfect-winter-flower/

https://www.highcountrygardens.com/flower-bulbs/amaryllis-flower-bulbs/hippeastrum-white-nymph-amaryllis

https://www.interflora.co.uk/page/flower-types/amaryllis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippeastrum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperantha

The candidate dancers

There was a dance instructor who had a class, and he had someone come to the class with whom he was very impressed. He seemed to just have a feel for the music, and he could pick up dance steps very nicely. He introduced himself to this young man, who said that his name was James. The instructor felt that James was material for world class championships, and he wanted James to be a part of his class.

Then, there was another young man in the class, but he didn’t seem to have the same flair. He had great desire and determination, but he just didn’t seem to feel the tempo. The instructor spoke to him, saying “James”, but the young man said, “No, John”, so he responded, “Okay, John. You seem to be battling tonight but keep going. You’re working hard. That’s great.”

Then in another class, he saw the young man again and he saw that he was dancing beautifully again and he was really impressed as he watched him displaying the moves and the tempo. Then he saw James with James -- or John with John -- and he realised that they were brothers –James and John – who looked very much the same. James had the feel for dance and music which came naturally to him, while John was a hard worker who unfortunately didn’t have quite the same flair for dance as his brother. He noticed that James had a scar and John had something on his ear so learned to distinguish between the two. But he found that James frequently skipped classes, or when there was a competition he would simply not come. John would always be there and he worked hard. He didn’t do as well as his brother but he worked hard.

The day arrived for the national championships in which members of the dance school were going compete. He entered both James and John into the competition. As first time competitors, they were entered in the Beginner category. When their turns came and they went onto the floor to dance, the instructor realised that James had been absent when he had explained the rules, that dancing at the beginners’ level, the participants should not use moves or steps from an intermediate or advanced level, and definitely not from bronze, silver or gold levels. But James had seen some stunning moves when he watched dancers on TV, so he slipped in a move from the intermediate level, and he slipped in a move from the advanced level, and he even slipped in a move with great flair and success from the gold level. He was thoroughly startled when the judges marked him down. John, on the other hand, who had worked really hard and put forth his best effort and did the very best he could, received scores of 9’s and 10’s from the judges.

Now which of those two people would you most like to have on your team when you’re aiming for the world championships?