Tall, bold and impressive with trumpet shaped flowers in brilliant colours, hippeastrum is certainly not the shrinking violet of the flower world!
Hippeastrum or Amaryllis?
Frequently mixed up, these two bulbous flowers are both in the same family, Amaryllidaceae, but amaryllis, from South Africa, is an outdoor plant with a solid stem and is leafless while in flower. Hippeastrum, which originates from Central and South America, is the opposite, a popular indoor bulb with glossy green leaves and a hollow stem.
