Haemanthus coccineus described under the caption names. Haemanthus coccineus Haemanthus coccineus, the blood flower, blood lily or paintbrush lily, is a species of flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae, native to Southern Africa. Growing to tall and wide, it is a bulbous perennial with short brown stems surmounted by red flowers, the flowers appearing in spring and summer, before the strap-shaped leaves. The generic name "Haemanthus" is derived from the Greek words "haima" for blood and "anthos" for flower; "coccineus" is the Latin word for red or scarlet. In the Afrikaans language it is known as bergajuin, bloedblom, and many other
Ornamental bulbous plant The Minoans of Crete grew and traded saffron (either the wild species "Crocus cartwrightianus" or the cultivated "Crocus sativus"). The plant is depicted in paintings from around 1550 BC. Saffron consists of the dried stigmas of the flowers, and is used as a spice and also as a dye. Some bulbous plants were used in medicine in classical times; one example is the sea squill ("Drimia maritima") which grows from a true bulb. Wall paintings dated to around 1700–1600 BC from Minoan Akrotiri provide some of the earliest evidence for the apparently ornamental use of bulbous plants. Some of the