
Amaryllis

by Andrea Lazar
Title
Amaryllis
Artist
Andrea Lazar
Medium
Photograph
Description
An Amaryllis.... by any other name would look as beautiful....
Its name means 'to sparkle' and is also known by many names, including 'belladonna lily,' 'Jersey lily' and 'naked lady.'
The Amaryllis, only a distant relative of the true lily (Lilium), apparently suffers from an identity crisis. The name "Amaryllis" was originally used for two different plants, one from South Africa and the other from South America. It took an international debate among botanists from 1938 to 1987 to resolve the problem, with the 14th International Botanical Congress declaring the rightful owner of the name to be the South African variety. The correct name for the South American plant, they decided, would hence forth be "Hippeastrum" - which is the winter flowering bulb we all know as "Amaryllis."
Then there was some crossing of the pink "Amaryllis belladonna" in Australia in the 1800s with no-one-knows-what species that resulted in color variations of white, peach, magenta and reds, which were then crossed back onto the original and resulted in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and intensities of pink, and even pure white. Then came stripes, veinings, darkened edges, white and yellow centers..... like this beauty that graced my window sill and brightened several weeks of my life last winter.
Whatever its real name is - I am awed by its complex beauty and history.
Uploaded
September 18th, 2013
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Comments (23)

Morris Finkelstein
Andrea, the colors and textures are stunning, the lighting is wonderful!
Andrea Lazar replied:
Thanks, Morris, for taking time to leave me a comment. I really appreciatte it!

Becky Lupe
So Pretty, Andrea! Congratulations on your feature in FAA "Black Background and Color" FL

Andrea Lazar
Becky - thank you so much for the feature in the group Black Background and Colors. I am new to the group and am honored to have been selected.

Andrea Lazar
James - thank you very much for the feature in the group Beauty. I appreciate your support.

Andrea Lazar
Greta - thank you so much for the feature in your wonderful new group Whet is in it for you.

Deb Halloran
Andrea, What a gorgeous image with such fantastic colors, detail and amazing light. Exquisite work of art! v/f
Andrea Lazar replied:
Deb - thank you so much for your wonderful comment and your vote. I really appreciate it!