Haemanthus carneus Ker Gawl. is an extremely rare species that is only found in the Somerset East area of the Eastern Cape in Acacia thicket and grassland. It is distinguished by a looser, widely spreading umbel and stamens included well within the perianth, the only known Haemanthus with this feature. It has the same growth pattern as Haemanthus humilis in the wild with leaves emerging just after the flowers (January to March) and persisting to late spring. Even though these come from summer rainfall areas, they come from high areas from 1000-2000 meters. In cultivation, it seems that they want to grow in the winter in the northern hemisphere (even from seeds). Plants are easy to grow if kept pot-bound and in part shade. Mature plants are happy and will flower in a 4" pot, according to Dylan Hannon. Plants sown from seeds will flower in 4 years.
Photos 1-2 from Cameron McMaster and 3-4 from Mary Sue Ittner show plants from Waainek, with the progression of flowers to fruits, starting January into February.
The photo below from Cameron McMaster shows a plant from Glen Avon.
Photos of plants in cultivation by Nhu Nguyen, Byron Amerson, and Cameron McMaster show the progression of plants from seeds to flowers, to fruit. Photos 3-4 show the first flowering of the seeds shown in photo 1 after four years.
