Amaryllis

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) – Knight Star In my attempt to describe my favourite flower, a quick search offered an abundance of adjectives. Sleek, graceful, charming, statuesque, gentle, exotic, sparkling, flamboyant, lush, and simply stunning. An exotic winter flower, with warm vivid colours giving a festive flavour and adding some elegance and winter warmth to our homes, bringing sunshine to those bleak winter months. To my surprise, the name’s origin was not what I expected. The name Hippeastrum was coined by English botanist, the Reverend William Herbert, and comes from the Greek hippeus (knight) and astron (star) after the resemblance of the flower to the ‘knight’s star’, a medieval weapon. A dark side revealed, indeed, but still not diminishing the remarkable beauty and allure of this wonderful flower! I hope the music will also bring those same graceful, gentle, lush, sparkling and warm feelings!