Yellow red flower

A few weeks ago I wrote about red flowers, flowering in late March to early April. Today, a yellow-flowered red flower from later in April.

I'm being a bit literal, as I like to be. Haemanthus albiflos means the white-flowered blood(red) flower. The better known species in this genus of blood lilies is the red-flowered Haemanthus coccineus, which I posted on in June. 

The White Paintbrush Lily, or simply Paintbrush, is also a relatively popular garden plant due to its unusual-looking flower and hardiness (i.e. its 'extreme tolerance of neglect'). We have a dozen or so bulbs in our Southern Africa Collection near Gardens House, in Melbourne Gardens, opening later than the Blood Lily, Haemanthus coccineus.

Compared to the Blood Lily, the flowers of the Paintbrush are smaller, and not as eye-catching from afar. In detail, they are equally attractive. The bracts are greenish white and the bulk of the flower consists of white stamen stalks (filaments) topped by yellow anthers. The green-veined bracts make pretty pictures when the flowerhead is a little younger than these.

This cluster of flowers attracts bees and butterflies in South Africa and these are presumed to be the pollinators. When I photographed the plants in Melbourne, nearly every flowerhead had at least one obsessed honeybee visiting.

The leaves on our form are softly hairy, most notable at the margins.

The leaves can remain all year, unlike some other Haemanthus species where they die back in summer. They do overwhelm the flower a little in size though, detracting from the plant's overall beauty. I think.

In its natural habitat in southern Africa, from the Cape area eastward to Durban, Haemanthus albiflos favours shady parts of forest or bushland. In Melbourne it grows happily in full sun, although shaded at each end of the day by surrounding shrubs and trees.

This species, and others, are sometimes separated into the genus Scadoxis but I've followed our HortFlora with mostly tropical species only treated as Scadoxis.

Along with other species of Haemanthus there is an interest in finding chemicals that may have medicinal value to humans. So far various alkaloids have been identified,  but I haven't tracked down this book chapter to find out what potential benefits they might offer. There are reports of its use locally to treat coughs, and less helpfully I suspect, as a charm to ward of lightening.