A. Hippeastrum aglaiae

Hippeastrum aglaiae

Thanks to my friend Mariano Saviello for the description of this plant! :) :

ARGENTINEAN SPECIES:

HIPPEASTRUM AGLAIAE (A. Cast.) Hunz. & Cocucci. Bol. Acad. Nac.

Ci. 41 (1): 12. (1959).

BASONIM: Amaryllis aglaiae. Cast. Herbertia 7 (63-65). (1940).

SUBGENERA: Lais.

ETIMOLOGY:

It refers to the name of one of the three deities that personified beauty in Greek mythology: "Aglaya", "Lulia" and "Eufrósine". "Aglaya" or "Aglaia" (in ancient Greek Ἀγλαΐα) was the youngest and most beautiful of the three Cárites and meant «the resplendent one», « the one that shines»,« the splendorous »,« the splendid one »; referring to her intelligence, her creative power and the intuition of her intellect.

GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE:

Endemic to Argentina, where it can be found in the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán growing in big populations in the wild. There are records for Bolivia, as well (Bolivian province of Burdet O'Connor) but his presence was yet not confirmed. This specimen is deposited in the National Herbarium of Bolivia (LPB), but it is highly probable that it does not correspond with this species.

In the mentioned geographical range (Argentina), there is a greater predominance of the red form than that of the type form, which is notably less common.

DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS:

Hippeastrum aglaiae is characterized by the umbel with up to six flowers of broad tepals greenish-yellow in color at the base and buttery yellow towards the apex on the type species. The red form, which P. Ravenna also referred to as Amaryllis cochunense, présents similar aspect but the perigone has an intense orange color, similar to the one of H. petiolatum.

Plants has a considerable size for the subgenus to which they belong, and grow vigorously between ferns and dense vegetation, in humid groves.

Hippeastrum aglaiae has TRIFID STIGMA and PARAPERIGONE provided with SMALL SCALES.

OTHER NOTES:

Although the red form is more abundant than the type form (greenish yellow), they both tend to predominate in the province of Tucumán in a region of relatively easy access ("The Lilies’s Plateau"), that can be reached after a walk bordering the bed of “La Horqueta” river. It is an easy species in cultivation, which does not require much care, widely used historically in the development of yellow and greenish hybrids.

The species referred to as Amaryllis cochunense by P. Ravenna, relieved by 15km from San Pedro de Colalao on the gravel slope on the way to “Pozo Bravo”, is nothing more and nothing less than the red form of H. aglaiae. This region is close to "El Cochuna Provincial Park" which, in Quechua language, means "gorge to be crossed”.