Species
+

Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Voss

Amaryllidaceae

Climate known 76 photographs Bulb, tuber or caudex
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Hippeastrum puniceum is a bulbous perennial native to tropical regions of South America, although it has become naturalized elsewhere. Common names include Barbados lily, Easter lily, cacao lily, cocoa lily and amaryllis lily, although it is neither a lily nor a species of Amaryllis.

Text from Wikipedia, “Hippeastrum puniceum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Hippeastrum

Hippeastrum is a genus of 116 species, and over 600 hybrids and cultivars, of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, from Mexico south to Argentina and on some islands in the Caribbean. The majority have large, fleshy bulbs and tall, broad, strap-like leaves that are (generally) evergreen, and large red or purple flowers. Numerous colors and cultivars have been created over the past hundred years.

Text from Wikipedia, “Hippeastrum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Amaryllidaceae
Described by
(Lam.) Voss
Native to
French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam +8
Wild records
536 in range· 323 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Oct, mean day; nights 21 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1459mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 221 mm (CHELSA)
Light
27–37DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by Amaryllidaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, October to March at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.1 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred. Habitat rain 1459 mm a year, wettest January at 221 mm, driest July at 32 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 37 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 13.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Amaryllis belladonna Sw.; Amaryllis equestris Aiton; Amaryllis equestris var. flore-simplici Loisel.; Amaryllis equestris var. major KerGawl.; Amaryllis equestris var. plena KerGawl. and 8 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex by Amaryllidaceae, which is usually but not always one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, October to March at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (3.1 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred.

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the year's rain (1100 mm of 1459 mm) falls in October to March. The temperature curve is flat, 3.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; with a flat temperature curve there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1459 mm a year, wettest January at 221 mm, driest July at 32 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1459 mm a year at the habitat, 1100 mm of it October to March. Wettest month January at 221 mm, driest July at 32 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1040 mm to 2756 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 37 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 37 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 13.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 13.8 °C, the absolute minimum 10.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 37.8 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 17.5 °C in July (across the envelope cells 12.8 °C to 23.0 °C), warmest day 29.1 °C in October (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 13.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 60 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Jun to 29 °C in Oct; mean night from 18 °C in Jul to 22 °C in Jan. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 1459 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 440 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 10.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 37.8 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°37.8° 99th-percentile day (undated)10.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 27–37RH 60–65 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 440 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 25–3129 / 25–3129 / 25–3128 / 24–3027 / 23–3027 / 22–3027 / 22–3028 / 23–3229 / 24–3329 / 25–3329 / 24–3128 / 25–31
Night °C22 / 17–2422 / 17–2422 / 18–2421 / 17–2420 / 15–2418 / 13–2318 / 13–2319 / 13–2320 / 15–2421 / 16–2421 / 17–2422 / 17–24
Rain mm221 / 69–331175 / 76–285190 / 110–290112 / 66–33174 / 21–33842 / 5–29832 / 1–22036 / 5–19163 / 22–194116 / 57–219182 / 93–253216 / 86–317
DLI35 / 29–3936 / 30–4033 / 30–3631 / 27–3428 / 23–3327 / 22–3229 / 23–3433 / 27–3735 / 29–4037 / 31–3935 / 31–3834 / 29–38
RH %65 / 61–7064 / 60–7065 / 61–7065 / 59–7064 / 54–7063 / 51–7061 / 49–6960 / 47–6861 / 47–6862 / 54–6964 / 59–6965 / 61–70

Each figure is the median across the 440 grid cells holding the 520 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2069:2673 (-13.475, -46.325). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 10.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 13.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 37.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 440 distinct grid cells holding the 520 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2069:2673 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -13.50_-46.250, lapse-corrected -43 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 713 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeFrench Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast· introduced: Tunisia, Gulf of Guinea Is., Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Chagos Archipelago, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Solomon Is., Norfolk Is., Nauru, New Caledonia, Cook Is., Society Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, Texas, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is.
Kew's description“bulbous geophyte” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-13.801, -47.459 · in the densest population, 206 records (38% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 536 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 323 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 205 km away. 388 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 16 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 536 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Hippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceumHippeastrum puniceum

Photographs: (c) Brian Oakes Haiti Hunter, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); no rights reserved · CC0 (4); (c) Chris Sealys, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Hippeastrum puniceum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine, a Bioactive Alkaloid from Hippeastrum puniceum Lam. (Amaryllidaceae)
Omar Santana, Matı́as Reina, Ana Luisa Anaya, Fidel Hernández (2008) · Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C
Plant species first recognised as naturalised for New South Wales over the period 2000-2001
John R. Hosking, Barry J. Conn, Brendan J. Lepschi (2003) · Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt)
(-)-3-O-Acetylnarcissidine, a New Alkaloid from Hippeastrum puniceum
Jean-Charles Quirion, Henri‐Philippe Husson, Bernard Weniger, Francisco Jiménez (1991) · Journal of Natural Products
Chemical evaluation and anticholinesterase activity of Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Kuntz bulbs (Amaryllidaceae)
Letícia C. Soprani, Jean Paulo de Andrade, Vanessa Dias dos Santos, Anderson Alves‐Araújo (2021) · Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
ASPECTOS ETNOBOTÂNICOS DE QUINTAIS TRADICIONAIS DOS MORADORES DE ROSÁRIO OESTE, MATO GROSSO, BRASIL
Germano Guarim Neto, Cleomara Nunes do Amaral (2010) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)
Systematic investigation and lipidomic profiles composition characterization in leaves of five Amaryllidaceae species by HRGC-MS technique
Ivoneide Maria Menezes Barra, André Silva dos Reis, Helder Kiyoshi Miyagawa, Strahil Berkov (2021) · South African Journal of Botany
Caracterização palinológica de espécies de Amaryllidaceae sensu stricto ocorrentes no nordeste brasileiro
Anderson Alves‐Araújo, Francisco de Assis Ribeiro dos Santos, Alves Marccus (2007) · Acta Botanica Brasilica
Glycosylated narciclasine alkaloid in Hippeastrum puniceum (Lam.) Kuntze
Amanda Eiriz Feu, Jean Paulo de Andrade, Alejandro Pedro Ayala, Larissa Costa de Almeida (2020) · South African Journal of Botany
The underexplored chemical diversity and biological potential of Amaryllidaceae from Cerrado
João Fernando Pinheiro da Silva, Talita Rons Lamor Pinheiro da Silva, Alixandre Santana, Kicia Karinne Pereira Gomes-Copeland (2025) · Discover Plants.

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Hippeastrum 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 111 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.