Haemanthus canaliculatus

Haemanthus canaliculatus ('canaliculatus': Latin 'with small channel or groove') is a South African bulbous geophyte in the genus Haemanthus of the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). The common name is fireball lily. It is found only over a small area in the Western Cape between Kleinmond and Rooiels, growing at about 30 m above sea level with an annual rainfall of 650 mm. Its favoured habitat is under dense bush in seasonally inundated shallow depressions, where it usually occurs in clumps. The leaf-bases or tunics of the bulb are thick, fleshy, distichous and loosely separated as in the spread fingers on a hand cf. Haemanthus pubescens. Leaves are from one to four, red-barred at the base, held in a sub-erect position and appear after the flowers. The peduncle is up to 200 mm long with 5-7 spathe valves that are bright red to pink in colour. Fruits are about 20 mm in diameter and reddish. Seeds are shiny and deep red. H. canaliculatus was named for the distinctive groove on the upper......read more on Wikipedia.