Flowering initiation in Amaryllis belladonna

Abstract

An understanding of initiation and influencing factors are necessary to develop forcing techniques for flowering plants. The March lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is a late summer flowering bulbous plant of South Africa. The inflorescence bears 2-12 soft pink fragrant funnel-shaped flowers on 'naked' (leafless) stems. It makes an excellent potted plant and fresh cut flower lasting up to a week in a bouquet. Preliminary data of the aspects influencing the morphological changes to promote flower-bud initiation are discussed. These include physical traits of bulb size, age and dormancy; planting establishment with relevance to methods and bulb disturbance and the environmental factors of temperature, watering, day length and seasonal fire. This review is aimed to encourage further research and popularization to enhance the year-round growing of A. belladonna to expand its economic and commercial potential.