Hippeastrum X johnsonii in New Orleans

Mark Wilcox marque219@yahoo.com
Fri, 29 Jul 2005 11:17:28 PDT
Dear All,

In April I had to go to New Orleans for a wedding and got to see
Hippeastrum X johnsonii in full bloom all over the city and outlying
areas.  The locals call it Saint Joseph lily.  They have the kind of
climate where they can grow Hippeastrum in the ground without special
protection.

However, I found that their idea of St. Joseph lily had 3 variations.  One
was the H. X johnsonii as it's sold commerically, a red flower with a
single thin white stripe on each tepal.  There was much less of this kind
in evidence than of the others.  Another variation had completely red
petals, while the third had much wider white stripes that shaded to green
where the tepals come together.

Are these all different forms of H. X johnsonii?  Are the other 2
mistakenly called St. Joseph lily by the locals, while actually different
hybrids?  I'm curious to know if anyone in the group knows and will share
with us how to identify the H. X johnsonii properly.

Mark Wilcox
Washington, DC


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