Hippeastrum reginae (L.) Herb.

Hippeastrum reginae is a vivacious, bulbous, geophytic herbaceous plant. It has some simple alternate distichous leaves, all emerging from the base and forming a small tuft loosely spread on a plane. The lamina is sessile, linear to narrowly elliptic up to 45 cm long and 3 cm wide, with rounded tip, entire margin, smooth on both sides and green in color. The inflorescence has 2-4 large flowers atop a cylindrical hollow, thick peduncle, longer than the leaves and glaucous. The two bracts are spathaceous, not fused and green. The floral pedicel is shorter than the top of the bracts and bent at right angles. The flowers are slightly asymmetrical, the large ones are bright orange-red with white or greenish yellow throat. The perianth consists of 6 lanceolate large tepals but sometimes of different size, about 10 cm long, fused in tube at the base, then widely spread. The stamens with yellow anthers are inserted in the throat of the floral tube and are of different length but shorter than the perianth. The stigma of the pistil is trifid. The fruit is a globular trine capsule, with three loculus that opens at maturing and release flattened black seeds.
 
General habit
 
Bulbous plant, forming a tuft of linear distichous leaves, reaching 60 cm tall when flowering.
 
Underground system
 
The underground apparatus consists of a globular bulb, with a short beak, covered with papery brown tunics. At the base of the bulb are fibrous roots.
 
Stem
 
This plant does not have aerial stem.
 
Leaf
 
The leaves 6 to 8 in number, are simple, alternate, distichous growing in clumps from the bulb. The blade is sessile, up to 45 cm long and 3 cm wide. The leaves reach their full development after flowering. The top of the blade is wedged, the margin is entire. Both sides are smooth, glabrous, green in color, covered with fine parallel veins less visible outside the central rib which forms a fold. The leaves are thick and waxy.
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescence is carried by a cylindrical and hollow pedicel, thick, smooth and glabrous, reaching 60 cm high and glaucous. At the top is an umbel of 2 to 4 large flowers. The two spathaceous bracts are free, green, linear lanceolate, 6 to 8 cm long, longer than the neckof floral stalk.
 
Flower
 
Flowers are declined horizontally, carried by a hollow cylindrical pedicel, 4 to 5 cm long and bent at right angles. The perianth is slightly asymmetric, with 6 elliptical to lanceolate tepals, fused at the base into a tube of 2 to 2.5 cm, then free and widely spread. The tepals are of different size and width, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The inner tepals are larger than the outer tepals. The base is attenuated, and the top is rounded or more or less acute. The tepals are bright orange-red with greenish yellow or white throat from which white lines radiate along the midrib of the lobes. 6 stamens, with linear yellow anthers have free filaments of different length, but are shorter than the perianth. The pistil ends in a trifid stigma.
 
Fruit
 
The fruit is a globular trigonal capsule with three brown loculus. At maturity, it opens in three fully expanded loculus, containing several seeds.
 
Seed
 
The seeds are flattened, black in colour.