Haemanthus coccineus vs Haemanthus sanguineus

[Michael]

Hello!

I would like to know the difference between these two species... They seem quite the same by pictures...

Thanks for any help

[Hans J]

Michael ,

Please look in PBS / Haemanthus there is written a little about differences between this two species .
The main difference are the leaves ( coccineus broad + sanguineus long ).
From H. sanguineus I have no mature plants so I can show no pics - a interesting point ( for me ) are the "tigerstripes" on seedlings of H. coccineus ( please look for my pic in Haemanthus 2008 ) - seedlings of H. sanguineus has it not .

I hope this helps you a bit
Hans

[Michael]

Thanks HAns! I will hve a look! 

[Renate Brinkers]

Hi Michael,

and the seed of H.sanguineus is red, half as big as the seed of coccineus and oval.
The seed of coccineus looks more like seed of a clivia and the coulour is yellowish to brown.
As i first got the seed of sanguineus I thougt: Wow, it earns it´s name.

[Michael]

Oh no!!! Mine was starting to set seed this fall, but i cut the flowerstem, as it was the first time it flowered, and i didnt wanted it to waste energy. Now i see i did the wrong thing!

Perhaps if i post here a picture of my plant a little latter you can help me...
But for what i have seen, i guess mine is coccineus.

[Renate Brinkers]

Hi Michaels,

what a pity - I cross my fingers for the next flowers.

[Michael]

Here is a picture of my plant i took a while ago:



So what you think? H. coccineus?

[Paul T]

Hi Michael,

and the seed of H.sanguineus is red, half as big as the seed of coccineus and oval.
The seed of coccineus looks more like seed of a clivia and the coulour is yellowish to brown.
As i first got the seed of sanguineus I thougt: Wow, it earns it´s name.

Renate,

I am not sure that seed colour is an identification feature, at least my H. coccineus sets seed that are most definitely bright red, not yellow or brown, and they have the striping at the base of the leaves so they should definitely be coccineus not sanguineus.  I have had many seeds set on many of my plants and all of them have been red, coming from a number of different sources.

Have others found that the seed of coccineus is not red?  Maybe all the coccineus we have in this country are all sanguineus?

[Renate Brinkers]

Paul,

sorry, my fault, you are right. Sometimes it is not the best to have a look for old pictures.
I found a link that showes seed of H.sanguineus, mine looked the same like this. Unfortunatly there is no good pic of H.coccineus seed, the stripes on the leaves are a better possibility to say what is coccineus.
http://www.plantweb.co.za/Plant_Pictures/Haemanthus/Haemanthus_sanguineus/

[Paul T]

Renate,

No need to apologise.  I was just trying to verify that what we have here in Aus as coccineus actually IS coccineus.  Stranger things have happened. 

[Hans J]

Now with a bit sun I could make some pics to show the difference of leaves :



left: H.coccineus - rigth : H.sanguineus



H. coccineus ( with stripes )



H.sanguineus

Micheal - I hope this will help you !

[Michael]

Thanks a lot Hans!

My plant doesnt have stripes, and it looks much more like H. sanguineus, because of the thin red border around the leaves. But my plant is a lot more grey than yours! Do you grow those in full sun, or the greyness of mine due to another clone of the species?

[Hans J]

Michael ,

I'm glad if I could hep you a bit with ID

This red border is not by all my H.sanguineus - I have also some smaller seedlings from this species .
My plants are in greenhouse and so color is maybe different from your plant - maybe are plants from different locations .

[Michael]

I grow mine in full sun all day long, and i guess that is probably what makes it get that grey powder. I think i will give it more shade as i prefer to see them green!

[Paul T]

Mike,

The grey appearance I think is genetic, not from light levels.  I have plants side-by-side that vary in that regard, some being decidedly greyish while others are bright green.  H. coccineus is very variable in size, length and width of leaves as well.... there is at least one location where the leaves almost form a disk, rather than being long like we normally see them.  I have also seen specimens where the leaves were close to 3 feet long and 4 or 5 inches wide.  This is why leaf morphology can be such a problem for identifying them, as different wild locations may have evolved to such different features.  But that just makes collecting them even more interesting.