Amaryllis belladonna 'Freya'

Brent Dickerson

This is a seedling which grew spontaneously from seed from a specimen of the variety 'Johannesburg' of the South African Belladonna, a plant commonly called "Naked Lady." I call it the "collared" Belladonna because, importantly, there develops a band at the base of the leaves which—in contradistinction to the average type—prevents the leaves from flopping all over their neighbors. The plant's leaves and scape are about 20% shorter than those of the average type (while the blossoms are just as large); further, the scape is not only more erect in and of itself, but also—again unlike the common sort with nodding flowers—each blossom, colored a good strong pink, opens vertically or nearly vertically, making a more striking effect. Thus, this Collared Belladonna is neater and much more suitable for garden use in every way as opposed to the common Naked Ladies.

Brent Dickerson (June 16, 2004)
http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/
California