Hippeastrum and astronomy
Blanca Wingate (Sun, 14 May 2017 03:54:17 PDT)

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superceded, and that and that no continental botanist would submit to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."

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