What is the difference between Amaryllis belladona and Lycoris squam.?
This came up at a recent garden club member discussion because almost
none of these flowers bloomed in Aug., and someone noticed the foliage
starting up recently.

We have many sites throughout the community where 'Naked Ladies'
generally bloom with no human interference. Usually, we have a couple of
heavy rains in August, which seems to get them on their way. This
summer, we assumed the lack of bloom was due to lack of water during the
summer.

Your quickest distinction will be foliage emergence. Amaryllis
belladonna will push foliage in the fall. Lycoris squamigera will begin
to push foliage in February.