Origin and Evolution of Garden Amaryllis

The present results and those of the earlier authors on Amaryllis reveal that hybridization has been an important single factor involved in the origin of garden cultivars. All the important hybrids like A. x johnsonii, A. x acramannii, Acramanii Pulcherima, Graveana, Empress of India and several Reginae (A. x gh. reginaeoides and leopoldii (A. x gh. leopoldaeoides) hybrids evolved through hybridization. Trans-gressive segregation seems to be one of the important factors by which flower size increased considerably over the species which show little variation. Regarding the elemental species relevant to the origin of garden amaryllis, mention may be made of A. belladonna, A. reginae, A. striata, A. reticulata, A. vittata, A. aulica, A. pardina, A. leopoldii, A. espiritensis and A. psittacina. This is a reasonably wide base of germplasm from which appropriate gene combinations have been selected over the years.