Dear Jane, As the growing and breeding Hippeastrum species are among my botanical passions, your question immediately captured my interest. I hope that the following information, in William Herbert's own words, will be helpful Kind regards, Blanca Wingate Point Reyes, California, USA Amaryllidaceae: Preceded by an Attempt to Arrange the Monocotyledonous Orders, and Followed by a Treatise On Cross-Bred Vegetables, and Supplement By the Hon. and Rev. William Herbert London, J. Ridgway and Sons, 1837 Excerpt from page 144 "Many years ago, when, in a letter published in the Hort. Soc. Trans. I first distinguished this genus from the plants with which it had been confounded, I retained for it the name Amaryllis, and proposed that of Coburghia for Belladonna and Blanda. I was not then aware that Linnaeus had given the name Amaryllis to Belladonna, with a playful reason assigned; but as soon as I learned it, I felt, besides the general law of priority, that the jeu d'esprit of a distinguished man out not to be superceded, and that and that no continental botanist would submit to the change. I therefore restored the name Amaryllis to Belladonna, and gave that of Hippeastrum or Equestrian star to this genus, following up the idea of Linnaeus when he named one of the original species equestre." _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@mailman1.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/