Knysna lily, noun phrase
- Forms:
- Also Nysna lily.
- Origin:
- KhoikhoiShow more Named for Knysna (Khoikhoi name), a town on the Western Cape coast.
Either of two plants of the Amaryllidaceae.
a. The justifina Cyrtanthus obliquus, a bulbous flowering plant with strap-shaped leaves and umbels bearing pendulous flowers, yellowish at the base, merging into bright red, and tipped with green; sore-eye flower sense d.
1985 K. Pienaar Grow S. Afr. Plants 41C. obliquus (Knysna lily), a beautiful plant with drooping red flowers tipped with green.
b. The widely cultivated bulbous flowering plant Cyrtanthus purpureus, with strap-shaped leaves, and umbels bearing funnel-shaped flowers with a yellow throat; berglelie, see berg sense 1 b ii; George lily. See also fire lily.
- Note:
- Formerly Vallota purpurea or V. speciosa; known as ‘Scarborough lily’ in Britain.
1991 Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 174The indigenous Knysna or George lily (Vallota speciosa) likes to grow on mountain slopes. In England, the plant is known as ‘Scarborough lily’ — it is thought because it was grown in Scarborough after bulbs were washed ashore after a shipwreck.
The justifina Cyrtanthus obliquus, a bulbous flowering plant with strap-shaped leaves and umbels bearing pendulous flowers, yellowish at the base, merging into bright red, and tipped with green; sore-eye flower sense d.
The widely cultivated bulbous flowering plant Cyrtanthus purpureus, with strap-shaped leaves, and umbels bearing funnel-shaped flowers with a yellow throat; berglelie, see berg sense 1 b ii; George lily.
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