Species · genus Hippeastrum · Amaryllidaceae

Barbados Lily

Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Voss

Also known as: Easter Lily · Cacao Lily · Amaryllis Lily

Growth habit

bulbous geophyte

Native range

Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Reference · H. puniceum

Cultivars of H. puniceum

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under H. puniceum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Hippeastrum puniceum is a bulbous geophyte from tropical South America that stores water and energy in its bulb, so it tolerates dry spells far better than soggy roots. Give it bright indirect light and gritty, fast-draining mix, and water only when the top inch or two of mix has gone dry — the bulb rots if left sitting wet. Expect a natural rest period when foliage dies back; water sparingly or not at all until new growth appears.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 14 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

13–27 °C

Soil mix

Rich, well-draining bulb mix with grit

Propagation

Offset bulblets separated from the parent bulb

Fertilizing

Feed every 2 weeks after flowering to rebuild the bulb

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Reliable trumpet blooms after a dry rest period

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Amaryllidaceae contain phenanthridine alkaloids (e.g. lycorine), concentrated in the bulb. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Barbados Lily yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.