Haemanthus coccineus (April fool, Blood flower)

Rooikwas, Bergajuin [Afrikaans]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Asparagales > Family: Amaryllidaceae > Genus: Haemanthus

Haemanthus coccineus. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]	Haemanthus coccineus, flowering amongst coastal rocks on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. [photo Colin Paterson-Jones ©]
Haemanthus coccineus. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]	Cross-section through the fruit of Haemanthus coccineus. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]
Haemanthus coccineus in fruit. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]

The bulb contains toxic alkaloids, including haemanthidine and haemanthamine, lethal if consumed in quantity.

Pictures and information in field guides

See Nieuwoudtville wild flowers by John Manning & Peter Goldblatt p. 56

See Hottentots Holland to Hermanus wild flowers by Lee Burman & Anne Bean p. 42

See West Coast wild flowers by John Manning & Peter Goldblatt p. 46

See Cederberg wild flowers by Gretel van Rooyen & Hester Steyn p. 56.