Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae
Douglas Westfall (Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:40:25 PDT)

"Jim wrote: "I’ve often wondered what differences there are between S.
multiflorus multiflorus and S. multiflorus katherinae"

Doug, what say you?

Basically, that is true. 75 to 80% of S. m. k hold their leaves and
pseudostem through the year until the "new" is ready to appear. At
that time, the old "dies" away and the "new" starts up. Shortly
thereafter, the "flower spike" appears. The "bulb" of this one is
somewhere between a bulb and a risome.

Scadoxus multiflorus forms more of a bulb, and it "buries" itself in
the planting medium. DO NOT "OVER WATER" this bulb as it will rot if
overwatered.

There is also "miniature"/"dwarf" form of S. multiflorus. It is also
more of a bulb, buries itself, and goes completely "dormant".

I hope this "non-scientific" answer helps to distinguish between the
two.

Doug