It is a native of the Cape, and is readily increased by cuttings.
Amaryllis Equestris. Barbadoes Amaryllis, or Lily.
_Cor._ hexapetaloidea, irregularis. _Filamenta_ fauci tubi inserta, declinata, inæqualia proportione vel directione. _Linn. fil._
AMARYLLIS _equestris_ spatha subbiflora, pedicellis erectis spatha brevioribus, tubo siliformi horizontali, limbo oblique patulo sursum curvo, fauce, pilosa. _Linn. fil. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 417._
AMARYLLIS dubia _Linn. Am. Ac. 8. p. 254_.
LILIUM americanum puniceo flore Belladonna dictum. _Herm. Par. Bat. p. 194. cum fig._
Mr. Aiton, in his _Hortus Kewensis_, has inserted this species of Amaryllis, as named and described by the younger Linnæus; he informs us, that it is a native of the West-Indies, and was introduced by Dr. William Pitcairn, in 1778: as its time of flowering is not mentioned, we may presume, that it had not blossomed in the royal garden when the publication before mentioned first made its appearance; it no doubt has since, as we have seen it in that state in the collections of several Nurserymen, particularly those of Mr. Grimwood and Mr. Colvill.
The flowering stem rises above the foliage, to the height of about a foot or more, produces from one to three flowers, similar to, but not quite so large as those of the Mexican Amaryllis, to which it is nearly related; it differs however from that plant essentially in this, that the lower part of the flower projects further than the upper, which gives to its mouth that obliquity which Linnæus describes.
The spatha is composed of two leaves, which standing up at a certain period of the plant's flowering like ears, give to the whole flower a fancied resemblance of a horse's head; whether Linnæus derived his name of _equestris_ from this circumstance or not, he does not condescend to inform us.
Mr. Aiton regards it as a greenhouse plant; like those of many of the Ixias, however, the bulbs are of the more tender kind.
It is propagated by offsets, but not very readily.
Othonna Pectinata. Wormwood-Leaved Othonna.
_Recept._ nudum. _Pappus_ subnullus, _Cal._ 1-phyllus multifidus subcylindricus.
OTHONNA _pectinata_ foliis pinnatifidis: laciniis linearibus parallelis. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 793._ _Ait. Kew. v. 3. p. 276._