Amaryllis belladonna L.
The species is native to South Africa and has spread as an epiphytic or cultivated ornamental throughout most of the world. It is often confused with the genus Hippeastrum and its striking hybrids. In the Mediterranean it blooms in late summer, in August. In Kythera it adorns most gardens tended or abandoned, roadsides, old alleys.
The beautiful lady of autumn took her name from the ancient Greek shepherdess Amaryllis who, following the advice of the Oracle of Delphi, in order to conquer the shepherd she had fallen in love with, pierced her heart with a golden arrow until a rare flower blossomed that would touch her eclectic lover.In English it is called “naked lady” because the flower emerges before the leaves (hysteresis) directly from the bulb while the lush foliage grows after flowering and remains green all winter producing starchy substances stored in the large bulb.
