Cyrtanthus in Kenya?

Nicholas Plummer nickplummer@gmail.com
Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:22:15 PDT
At an orchid society meeting today, I picked up two unlabeled bulbs, probably an amaryllid, that are supposedly from seed collected in the vicinity of Nairobi.  A somewhat blurry photo showed light pink flowers, one per inflorescence, that generally resemble Cyrtanthus sanguineus. The bulbs and foliage also look like my C. sanguineus (almost spherical with a definite neck), and the photo showed foliage present at blooming.

The Wiki says that C. sanguineus can be pink, and various web sites say it grows in Kenya.  I have never seen a pink C. sanguineus,  so is this a likely ID?  Are there other Cyrtanthus species in Kenya? 

Unfortunately I don't know if the mother plant was wild or in a garden, but I have a lead on the collector and will try to find out.

Nick Plummer
Durham, NC, USA




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