Amaryllis belladonna Amaryllis belladonna Amaryllis belladonna, (Jersey lily, belladonna-lily, naked-lady-lily, March lily) is a plant species native to Cape Province in South Africa but widely cultivated as an ornamental. It is reportedly naturalized in many places: Corsica, Portugal, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Zaire, Ascension Island, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Chile, California, Texas, Louisiana, and the Juan Fernández Islands. Perennial bulbous geophyte with one to two erect solid stems which appear in late summer. The inflorescence bears 2–12 showy fragrant funnel-shaped flowers on a 'naked' (leafless) stem, which gives it the common name of naked-lady-lily. The
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