''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' is a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

from tropical rainforest in Africa. It is native to Western and Central Africa from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in the far west to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in the south. It has been reported from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesSierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, São Tomé,

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Description

''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' grows from a short

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. Many other species of ''Scadoxus'' have a pseudostem (false stem) formed from the tightly wrapped bases of the leaves. ''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' has at most a very short pseudostem, making the plant shorter than other species, with an overall height of up to . The flowers are borne on a scape (leafless stem) which emerges from the centre of the leaves and is usually not much taller than them, with a height of . Up to 100 (but usually fewer) orange-red flowers are arranged in an

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

at the top of the scape. The

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

underneath the umbel have withered by the time of full flowering. The individual

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

(flower stalks) are long, and bend downwards when the fruit (a

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

) is formed, whereas in most other species of ''Scadoxus'' they are upright at this stage. The flowers are somewhat differently shaped in different parts of the range of the species. In particular, individual flowers from East Africa, especially

, have a long tube at the base formed by the fusion of the

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, up to long, whereas elsewhere the tube may be as short as . The width of the leaves also varies throughout the range. This variation has resulted in a substantial number of names for what appears to be a single widespread and variable species.

Taxonomy

''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' was sent to

Joseph Decaisne Joseph Decaisne (7 March 1807 – 8 January 1882) was a French botanist and agronomist. He became an ''aide-naturaliste'' to Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (1797-1853), who served as the chair of rural botany. It was during this time that he began to stu ...

in 1855 from

, and formally named by him in 1857 as ''Haemanthus cinnabarinus''. The specific epithet ''cinnabarinus'' refers to the colour of the flowers, which Decaisne described as ''""'' (bright cinnabar red). Many other names within the genus '' Haemanthus'' are now considered to be synonyms of ''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'': *''Haemanthus angolensis'' Welw. *''Haemanthus brachyandrus'' Baker *''Haemanthus cabrae'' De Wild. & T.Durand *''Haemanthus congolensis'' De Wild. *''Haemanthus demeusei'' De Wild. *''Haemanthus diadema'' L.Linden *''Haemanthus eetveldeanus'' De Wild. & T.Durand *''Haemanthus fascinator'' L.Linden *''Haemanthus germarianus'' J.Braun & K.Schum. *''Haemanthus kundianus'' J.Braun & K.Schum. *''Haemanthus laurentii'' De Wild. *''Haemanthus lescrauwaetii'' De Wild. ex Gentil *''Haemanthus lindenii'' N.E.Br. *''Haemanthus longipes'' Engl. *''Haemanthus mirabilis'' L.Linden *''Haemanthus radcliffei'' Rendle *''Haemanthus rotularis'' Baker ''Scadoxus'' was originally separated from ''Haemanthus'' by

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

in 1838, when he moved ''Haemanthus multiflorus'' to ''

Scadoxus multiflorus ''Scadoxus multiflorus'' (formerly ''Haemanthus multiflorus'') is a bulb, bulbous plant native to most of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Somalia to South Africa. It is also native to Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman) and to the Se ...

''. This separation was ignored by most workers until 1976, when ''Scadoxus'' was again segregated from ''Haemanthus'' by Ib Friis and Inger Nordal. ''Haemanthus'' species are southern in distribution, form true

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

s and have 2''n'' = 16

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

s, whereas ''Scadoxus'' species, such as ''S. cinnabarinus'', are found throughout tropical Africa, do not all form bulbs and have 2''n'' = 18 chromosomes.

Distribution and habitat

''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' is widely distributed around the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

from

in the north to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in the south. It is found in tropical rainforest, in humid shady habitats subject to high rainfall, where the soils are largely organic.

Cultivation

''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' has been cultivated in heated greenhouses ("stove-houses") since it was sent to Europe in 1855. Its requirement for a high temperature makes its cultivation demanding. Like other species of ''Scadoxus'' from tropical rainforests, it requires an open organic soil to ensure good drainage and aeration around the roots, together with shade from strong sun. Pests are those of Scadoxus#Cultivation, ''Scadoxus'' generally.

Toxicity and uses

The genus ''Scadoxus'' is known to have some strongly toxic species, containing poisonous

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s. These are lethal to animals, such as sheep and goats, that graze on the plants. ''Scadoxus cinnabarinus'' has been used in parts of tropical Africa as a component of

arrow poison Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

s and fish poisons. It is also used in traditional medicine.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1615937 Amaryllidoideae Flora of Ghana Flora of the Central African Republic Flora of Sierra Leone Flora of Uganda Flora of Nigeria Flora of Cameroon Flora of Equatorial Guinea Flora of Gabon Flora of Angola Plants described in 1857 Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne