Anybody tell me pleeease what is this?

[Katherine J]

I am sure this is not a question for You guys, but I need help. It was a gift from an old lady, who knows only that it is not hardy here. I thought of Moraea or Cyrtanthus, but after all I think it is something else...

[Maggi Young]

Kata, this is some sort of amaryllid, Hans or Alberto will tell us!
Habranthus, maybe? 

[Lvandelft]

Kathrine, I presume some Zephyranthes.
Considering this, I googled a bit and found two Z. which it could be:
Zephyranthes rosea or Zephyranthes nelsonii.
But of course the specialist will know if this is right.

[Katherine J]

Luit, thank you very much!
I think this is Z. rosea. According to pacificbulbsociety.org Z. nelsonii is bigger: "The scapes are quite tall (about 12 inches high) and the flowers are quite large, as well (4-5 inches in length)." My plant is 15-20 cm tall and the flower's lenght about 6-7 cm.

[Armin]

Katherine,
a lovely plant you got!

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

Sorry for my late answer but I was away for some hours .

The plant from Katherine could be Zeph. grandiflora -I have similar plants -please look here :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=542.msg14082#msg14082

I have this plant from different sources ....but all are steril

I hope this helps a bit
Hans

[Lesley Cox]

I think it looks pretty much like Zephyranthes grandiflora. It sets good seed in Australia and NZ.

[Katherine J]

Rosea or grandiflora, anyway, it's nice, and thank you very much!

[Maggi Young]

Just in this comment from Betty Clark in New Zealand:

I am pretty sure that this is Habranthus robustus. I have grown it for years.  Habranthus robustrus is what the photo shows, certainly not Zeph. rosea as that only grows and flowers just out of the ground and is a very pink tiny bulb.Do hope this will help.    Betty Clark.
   

[Katherine J]

 
Thank you, Maggi...

[Hans J]

Maggi :

I agree not with Betty Clark - I grow Habr. robustus too and they are really different from Z. grandiflora - with leaves until 12 mm wide and 20 -30 cm long !
There runs a lot of plants as Habr. robustus ....but they are wrong named -I have it seen also in gardencenters....
Here is some information :

http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Habranthus

http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php?pagename=Zephyranthes

[Maggi Young]

Maggi :

I agree not with Betty Clark

Yes, Hans, I understand that you disagree: I merely post the message received from Betty.

[Paul T]

I must admit I'd be surprised too if it was Habranthus robustus, at least what I have seen as that anyway.  What I have seen as the Hab is much paler, without the curving back petals as in the pictures above.  I seem to recall that it barely has any leaves at flowering time either, rather than the prominent leaves shown in Kathrine's pics.

As to what it IS..... I can never remember which is Zeph rosea and which is Zeph. grandiflora, but it is one of those (that doesn't help much does it!? ) I think.  I have a feeling that the plant I have here that looks like Kathrine's plant is sold under both of those names.

[Katherine J]

Aren't Z. rosea and grandiflora synonyms? 
Until now I've seen Z. grandiflora and Habranthus robustus only on pictures. According to the link posted by Hans: "Habranthus flowers point upward BUT at an angle and have unequal stamens in 4 different sizes, and Zephyranthes flowers point straight up and have 6 equal stamens". In regard to this, my plant is absolutely Zephyranthes (there were 7 flowers until now which demonstrate this  )

[Paul T]

Kathrine,

Well that would explain why both names are applied to the same thing here.  I'd always just assumed that it was mislabelling.